


His Secret Life.

by AshleyJinxxBiersack



Category: Tom Hiddleston - Fandom
Genre: F/M, Loki Does What He Wants, Mortal Fandral, Mortal Loki, Pirate AU, mortal Thor, pirate Thor, pirate loki, small illusion tricks
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-04-20
Updated: 2015-01-31
Packaged: 2018-01-20 03:41:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 23,067
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1495249
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AshleyJinxxBiersack/pseuds/AshleyJinxxBiersack
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hiding away from those who search, never to be found. A life on the run, for one so Hell-bound. A life in a wooden home, travelling as far as the eyes can see. Times get rough, and often lonely, but it's a pirate's life for me.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. I

**Author's Note:**

> Shifted from my Wattpad as it's not agreeing with me lately and people seem to enjoy making unkind comments in my inbox about how this story is a 'stupid' idea. I hope you guys enjoy, and please let me know what you think!

When Harley left her apartment at the usual time on the first Monday Morning of June, she hadn't expected her day to take the turning it did.

She'd spent the morning in university, and was now finishing up her afternoon shift in the cafe that sat around the corner from her apartment building. When she glanced at the clock, and saw that it was finally 5 in the afternoon, she smiled happily to herself and told her friend and co-worker Megan that she was making a move to get home to her pup, and to get something to eat.

"Meg, I'm leaving now!" she called to her friend unnecessarily loudly as she passed the counter to head out.

"Okay Harls!" Megan called back, smiling when a few of the regulars chuckled at their usual farewells.

Harley was so busy digging through her purse for her ear plugs, that she hadn't noticed she was walking straight into someone. She didn't realise until they'd collided and both stumbled back. In the process of stumbling, Harley had almost fallen and dropped her bag, only to be held upright by a firm but gentle grip.

"I am so, so sorry," Harley apologised, crouching down to gather up the few things that had fallen from her bag. "I should've watched where I was going."

"I wasn't looking either, so I think we're both at fault a little," a man chuckled. His voice was like music to Harley's ears, and a part of her brain sparked to life, trying to work out where she'd heard that velvety smooth voice before.

As she stood back up, she had a small smile on her face and looked at the man in front of her. He was tall. He had short, slightly curly dark brown hair, lighter brown facial hair that was trimmed quite neatly, cheek bones that looked as if they'd been constructed by gods and the most gentle, icy blue eyes she'd ever seen.

"It's alright, really," she said, smiling slightly. "I should've been watching what I was doing. I haven't hurt you or anything have I?"

"Nah, I've had worse than a run in with someone," the man said, smiling brightly. Harley took a quick glance, noticing he was wearing a pale blue shirt with the top few buttons open and the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and he was also wearing dark blue jeans and black boots.

"You're sure?" Harley asked. The man laughed.

"I promise, it's no big deal. No harm done," he assured her. Harley sighed, finally giving in and nodding.

"At least let me apologise properly and buy you a coffee?" she asked. The man smiled, nodding.

"Sure," he said. "But on the condition that I get to know your name, and you join me for a walk."

Harley giggled softly as she nodded her head in agreement to the condition. "Alright, you have a deal."

"Wonderful," the man said, smiling warmly.

"I'm Harley," she said as the two made their way to the counter she'd just walked away from.

"I'm Tom," the tall man said.

"I thought you were leaving?" Megan questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"I was, but then I ran into Tom in the literal sense and wanted to buy him a coffee as an apology," Harley explained. Megan shook her head, laughing.

"Alright then," she said. "What can I get you?"

"I'll have a hot chocolate while you're at it," Harley said, grinning. Megan rolled her eyes, sending a message back to get Harley's usual started. Harley looked to her tall companion. "What did you want, Tom?"

"Uh, I'll have a cinnamon spiced Latte, please," he said politely. Harley nodded and looked at Megan, who was already working away at the coffee machine behind her. While the machine worked, Megan returned to the counter to ring up the total.

"Four-fifty-six of your hard earned cash, if you will darling," Megan teased. Harley rolled her eyes and smiled, handing over the money. Megan stuffed it into the register and gave Harley her change, then went to retrieve the drinks that were now sat ready to be served. "Your drinks, loves."

"Thank you," Tom said, smiling as he took his and sipped it. He hummed happily at the taste. "Perfect."

"Thanks Meg," Harley said. "I'll see you tomorrow, right?"

"You will indeed, darling!" Megan said loudly. Harley laughed, waving goodbye before following Tom out of the cafe.

"So where did you plan on going on this walk?" Harley asked, sipping the warm drink in her hands.

"Nowhere particular," Tom responded, sipping his own drink. "Wherever my feet take me, I suppose."

"That's always a good option," Harley said. Tom smiled, nodding.

"I always go wherever my feet take me. I never spend too much time thinking things over. I just do it," he said, rather thoughtful. Harley smiled, but her smiled faltered ever so slightly when something started ticking away in the back of her mind. "You alright Harley?"

"Yeah, fine. You just.. seem very familiar, all of a sudden," she said. Tom raised an eyebrow at her questioningly.

"You and I have only just met, darling, I don't see how you could possibly know me," he said, smirking slightly at her. The smirk brought something to life in Harley's memory, making her grin. Tom raised an eyebrow again.

"I know now!" she exclaimed happily. "You were in that theatre production last weekend, right? I cannot remember for shit what it was called, and I saw it three times. But you were in it. One of the main roles, right? In the Donmar warehouse."

"Ah, you recognise me," he chuckled. "Yes, I was in that. I- wait, three times?"

"Yup. The first time was for Megan's birthday, the second was because mum wanted to see it and had no one to go with, and the third was just because I loved it so much and I hate even numbers," Harley chuckled. Tom laughed softly, shaking his head.

"Impressive," he mused. "I'm glad you enjoyed it enough to want to see it three times."

After that, conversation flowed easily. Harley found topics of mutual interest with Tom, and they walked for far more than the original hour that had been planned. They were too deep in conversation to pay much attention to how much time had passed. They talked about everything from music and books to movies and ice cream flavours.

When the evening drew nearer to the night, Tom walked Harley home to make sure she got there safely before going his own way. He stayed outside the building after saying goodnight, waiting until he saw the light come on in her room. Once he was satisfied that she was safe at home, he made his own way, deciding on walking a little longer before going to his own home for the night. His hands were stuffed into the pockets of his denim jeans, and his right hand was curled around the scrap of paper that held Harley's number. He knew he probably wouldn't call it for a day or so, because he never did call straight away. He liked to let people have their space between conversations. But when he did decide to call her, he was sure it was going to be good.


	2. II

Three days passed after Harley and Tom had bumped into each other, and she'd not heard a word from him since. She knew it was a long shot in giving him her number, considering they'd just met and started talking. But something in her mind had convinced her to do it. Harley didn't feel too disappointed though. A larger part of her had expected this to happen. It was a one off spot of luck, and that luck had passed now, so she was back to her usual business.

Though the bigger part of her had seen this coming, Harley couldn't help but feel disappointed that she hadn't seen Tom in the three days that had passed since they bumped into each other. And she continued to feel a little disappointed as the three days stretched into four days, five days, six days, and eventually a week. She really wanted to see him again, but she knew it was a long shot and very slim chance.

University had piled work on her that week, but Harley was ploughing through it at a rate that was best suited for her for getting it all done and still working her shifts too. She'd just reached the half way point of all her work before she'd gone into work the Saturday morning the week after she'd run into the man she'd been crushing on since she first started seeing professional theatre productions.

Megan had continuously questioned her friend in work for that entire week about what had happened. Every time they passed each other, and every break they had, Megan would be asking the same questions, over and over again. But Harley was yet to give an answer. She was trying to forget about it all before she got too hopelessly attached, then hurt because she wasn't going to see him again any time soon. If at all, for that matter.

"Harley!"

"What, Megan?"

"Why won't you tell me about your little date with Tom?" Harley sighed in frustration, taking a bite of the sushi she'd bought for her lunch.

"Because, Megan, it wasn't a date. We were just walking, and I occasionally continued to apologise for bumping into him," Harley said. "That's all. Nothing more, nothing less. Just walking. Not even as friends. Acquaintances, I think."

"Fine," Megan grumbled. "But at least tell me what you talked about other than bumping into each other? Surely you guys had _something_ interesting to talk about?"

Harley rolled her eyes, shaking her head. "We talked about the usual shit everyone talks about when they're talking for the first time. Music, movies, books, places, food, TV shows... all that pointless shit."

"And did you learn anything at all from spending time with him?" Megan asked.

"I already knew he's into Shakespeare, since he was in a couple of theatre productions that were written by Shakespeare. And he's into anything and everything that catches his interest when it comes to movies and music. He's a pretty open-minded guy," Harley answered, finishing off her sushi and tossing the packet into the bin beside her.

"And he's hot," Megan said.

"He's definitely good looking," Harley said.

"Admit it, Harls, he's hot and you'd bang him in a heartbeat," Megan said, making Harley almost choke on air. Megan snickered, watching Harley's face burn slightly red in the cheeks.

"Meg, don't be so crude," Harley said, shaking her head as she pushed the loose strands of her hair back behind her ear. Megan just shrugged, smirking slight as she finished the last couple of bites of her sandwich so the two could get back to work to get the day over with.

Since the cafe was fairly quiet, Megan and Harley split the jobs. Megan was serving the few people that stayed in to enjoy some quiet time or a small gathering, and Harley started on the cleaning. Megan kept glancing over at Harley during the time they worked, giving her strange looks, almost as if she knew something that Harley didn't, but Harley didn't think too much of it. She just continued to work, determined to finish early so she could spend more time on her work.

As she finished cleaning the last empty table, she turned around to go back to the counter, managing to run into someone and drop the cleaning tray. Everyone's attention was on her and whoever she'd bumped into now, making her cheeks heat up wildly.

"I am so, so sorry!" she apologised, looking at the stranger. Her eyes widened when she saw the familiarly gentle smile, and the friendly face she'd met only a week before. "I am _so_ fucking sorry, Tom, I swear I'm not doing this on purpose!"

"It's alright, honest," Tom said, shaking his head. "I shouldn't have been creeping around while you're working. It's my fault."

"Tom-"

"No, no, honest," he said, smiling. "Here, let me help you."

Before Harley could protest, Tom was on his knees helping her pick up all the cleaning supplies and place them back into the tray neatly. Harley couldn't fight back her smile as she crouched down and got to work cleaning up the small spills.

"Hey, what time to you finish up here?" Tom asked as he placed a bottle of cleaning spray into the tray. As Harley opened her mouth, Megan's voice floated to them as the other girl wandered past, an innocent expression planted on her face.

"She's finishing in five!"

"Meg, I have three hours left," Harley argued. Megan smirked, shaking her head.

"No. That's tomorrow. You actually only have an hour left today, but I owe you from a few weeks back, so I'm taking this extra hour for you," Megan said smugly.

"Megan, don't be so-"

"Just get off in five minutes and do what you gotta do," Megan said simply, smirking and strutting away before Harley could say anything more. The blonde and brown haired girl groaned, sending a quick glare in her friend's direction when the red head looked over and grinned.

"Looks like I do finish in five after all," Harley said, looking back to Tom, who had an amused look on his face. Harley felt her blush darkening, and Tom laughed softly.

"That's great," he said. "Will you hang with me again? I'm sorry I never got in touch or anything, I just got so busy, you know? New scripts to learn and everything."

"I totally understand," Harley said, smiling. "I'll hang with you if you don't mind me being around."

"If I minded, I wouldn't have asked," Tom said simply, smiling as he stood and picked up the tray.

"Hey, no, I can take that," Harley said, pulling the tray from his hands. "You helping me clear it was enough. I'll be out in a minute."

Before Tom could speak, Harley had wandered out to the back to put away the tray of cleaning supplies and hang up her apron in favour of her knee length, double breasted coat.

"I fucking hate you," she grumbled when Megan waltzed in.

"Oh, you love me!" the red head chirped. "You go enjoy your date with Mister Hiddleston. I'll handle everything here!"

"It's not a date!" Harley snapped, grabbing her bag and pulling it onto her shoulder. Megan just smirked more and wandered away, letting Harley head out to meet Tom.

"You ready to go?" Tom questioned, still smiling when Harley came into view.

"Ready when you are," she said, returning his smile and following him out.

For the first fifteen minutes of the walk, they moved in a comfortable silence. It was nice to feel comfortable around someone in silence, even if they had only just met. After a while, Tom decided he get his question off his mind. He knew it was now or never.

"Hey, Harley?" Harley hummed in response as she looked up at Tom. "What would you say to coming on an adventure?"


	3. III

Tom's question had caught Harley slightly off guard. She hadn't been expecting that at all. An adventure? What kind of an adventure? What was an adventure in his eyes? Harley was brought out of her daze, blinking a few times when Tom raised an eyebrow and clapped lightly in front of her face.

"You alright there?" he asked, chuckling softly when she blushed faintly.

"Yeah, fine," she said, waving it off. "What do you mean when you say adventure, Tom?"

"What I say," he laughed. "We'll go travelling somewhere. I have a few weeks off now to relax and also start learning a new script, and I find that different settings tend to help me learn faster and more professionally."

"I can't, Tom. What about all my university work?" Harley questioned, frowning slightly. Even if she had only known him for a week, she felt like a fool for having to pass up the offer of travelling with Tom Hiddleston, but she didn't really have much of a choice.

"Well you have a couple weeks break yourself for study, right?" Tom questioned. Harley nodded. "Bring your work with you! I'll help you as much as I can in any way I can, if you like. If you don't want me around when you're doing it, I won't bother you. I don't mind. But please, won't you come? It'll be fun! And you'll still have all your work and notes up to date by the time we come back, I promise."

"I dunno, Tom," Harley said hesitantly. "Where would we go? What would we do?"

"Travel to a few places by boat, maybe? Just to see parts of Europe we don't often get to see, if at all," he suggested. Harley raised an eyebrow.

"Do you know how much it'll cost for us to do that?" Harley asked. Tom shrugged.

"It'll be free," he said simply. "I own a boat. Well, more of a ship. It was passed down to me from my grandfather."

"You own a ship?" Harley questioned, eyes widening ever so slightly in shock. Tom smiled, nodding. Harley bit her lip lightly, spending a few minutes thinking before sighing and giving in to her deepest want. "Sure, why not? But promise me I'll get all my work done!"

"Yes!" he exclaimed happily, punching the air and grinning. "You won't regret this, Harley, I swear! And I promise you, that you will get all work that gets brought with you, done."

"You have yourself a deal then, Mister Hiddleston," she giggled. Tom grinned, pulling her into a hug before letting go and heading towards her apartment with her so she could grab a few things she'd need along with her work.

Belle only packed a small bag of stuff, not really having much in the first place. She had a few change of outfits, a couple of pairs of shoes, her female essentials, her hair and make-up stuff, her electrical stuff in case she needed any of it and of course, her university work. It all fit neatly into one bag, and that made her happy.

On the way down to the docks, they stopped by Tom's apartment so he could grab a few things of his own, including a couple of new scripts he had to start learning, then he locked up and lead the way to where his ship was waiting for them.

"Why do you keep it in the most abandoned part of the whole area, Tom?" Harley asked as he lead her through the shortcut down to the blocked off part of the dock. It had been blocked off years ago after murders had taken place there, so no one really went there anymore.

"Because I know that no one will ever try stealing, destroying or vandalising my ship if I keep it where no one else goes," Tom chuckled, helping her climb over the fence with her stuff.

"But Tom, murders happened here. No one wants to come here in case they end up going the same way," Harley said, stepping back as Tom's long legs swung over the tall metal gates.

"I'll let you in on a secret," Tom chuckled, straightening himself up again then continuing to walk with Harley beside him. "It wasn't really murders. It was just horribly unfortunate accidents that happened because the weather and nature suck, and people were in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"What?" Harley questioned, frowning slightly. Tom laughed softly at her confused expression, then pointed up towards the cliffs.

"You see those up there?" he asked. Harley nodded as she looked. "At the time the murders were said to have happened, the weather had been exceptionally bad and had caused a load of large clumps of land and rock to loosen. When the winds started picking up that week, the rocks dislodged and fell, landing on the unfortunate ones who were in the wrong place at the wrong time. It was marked as dangerous and out of bounds, but people still came in for the hell of it, so a murder story was made up to keep people away, and so far, it's worked."

"Aside from you, of course," Harley giggled. Tom smirked, nodding.

"And you too," he chuckled. Harley grinned.

"Now, yes," she said. "So where's this ship you say you own, Tom?"

"Right there, Harley," Tom said, motioning to the only floating boat in the dock. Harley's eyes widened and her lips parted ever so slightly in shock. Tom chuckled.

"But... that's a-actually a-a-" Harley cut herself off, looking at Tom with wide eyes. He laughed lightly, nodding.

"It's actually a ship," he said. "You thought I was kidding, didn't you?"

"I might've," Harley murmured, blushing faintly and looking away. Tom only laughed more, grabbing her hand and pulling her towards the rather grand looking wooden boat. "Am I the only one thinking of Pirates of the Caribbean right now?"

"No, no," Tom laughed. "I thought of that the first time my grandfather showed me this thing too. I still think it every time I see this ship to this day."

"Good to know I'm not the only one," she giggled. Tom grinned, reaching up to unhook the end of the rope ladder so they could both get on board.

"After you, dearest," he said, tossing his bag up and over the side, knowing his own laptop was cushioned by his clothes and scripts. Harley made sure her bag was securely on her shoulder, then when Tom had grabbed hold of the ladder to steady it for her, she made her way on board.

Once on board, Harley straightened herself up properly and looked around, jumping slightly when she found other people already on board, some of which were watching her curiously. Tom was soon on behind her and pulling up the ladder out of the way.

"What happened to no one else ever comes down here?" she asked, looking at her tall friend. Tom chuckled.

"You think I can actually control this thing on my own? Lord no," he said, waving to those who spotted him and smiled, waved and said hello.

"You ass," Harley laughed, shoving him playfully. He just grinned at her, pulling her towards what she assumed was a cabin of some form.

"Right lads," Tom said, turning quickly to face the others. "Onward we go! Oh! And no one bother Harley too much. She's a friend of mine and will be spending this journey with us."

There were comments of agreement and hellos sent in Harley's direction, then Tom's friends got to work getting the sails up so they could get out of the dock. As Harley looked over all the murky white and grey fabric that made up the sails, she spotted something black and white poking out of it all. She dropped her bag just inside the door Tom had disappeared into, and without getting in the way too much, she'd made her way to where that little black and white bundle was, lifting it and grinning. A black flag with a very Pirates of the Caribbean style skull and crossbones stared back at her. She knew there and then that she'd find herself enjoying this trip soon enough.


	4. IV

"Hey, Harley? Come here a minute!"

Harley put the flag down and quickly moved out of the way for the crew to get their jobs done, and she wandered over to where Tom had appeared, smiling warmly at her.

"You called?" she said.

"I did indeed," he chuckled. "Come on. I'll show you to what we call the cubby holes. They're quite small, so people with my height or the big build some of these guys have don't always find them the most comfy of places. But you shouldn't be too bad."

"Asshole," Harley scoffed, grinning at him as she picked up her bag. He only shrugged and smirked at her before pulling her gently towards the back of the large cabin area. Harley made a mental note to have a proper look around at some point after she'd settled down and they'd moved out of the very quiet docking area.

"We've never had a girl on board before, so we don't usually worry about separate rooms, but there is one that was just blocked off anyway, and we opened it up as a spare when I was old enough to sort renovations out on my own," Tom explained as he lead me down a short hallway then into a larger room where hammocks and little camping-type beds were all set up. Harley smiled.

"This is so cool!" she exclaimed happily. He laughed, pulling her to the other side of the room that had a white board on it that labelled it as the spare room.

"Usually this is used for storage, but I can get the guys to empty it out for you later," Tom said, pushing open the door. It was a fairly decent sized room, though Harley could see what he meant by the small bed.

"This is awesome, Tom. Thank you," she said, smiling up at him. He smiled back, shoving things aside so her stuff would be separate to everyone else's. Harley dropped her bag onto her temporary bed, then followed Tom back out of the room, back towards the main area of the cabin.

"This is my room down here, so if you ever need me and can't find me, I'm more than likely hiding in here," he told her, pushing open a door and showing her a large room. She smiled widely. His room was awesome. There was a desk littered with bits of paper, various books and a couple of candles, a high backed chair with a nice looking coat draped over the back of it, a decent sized bed in the corner and various other things littered around, including his bag and some of his clothes.

"This room is a shit tip," Harley giggled. "You should really clean up after yourself, Tom."

"Don't push it, pipsqueak," he teased, pulling her out of his room so he could close the door again. "Maybe I could get you to clean it for me."

"I'm your guest, not your maid," she scoffed, giving him a small smirk. He simply returned the smirk then made his way out onto the main deck to see how everything was going and to see if help was needed anywhere.

Harley had planned to stick around and have a look around Tom's room, but she heard him calling, pulling those plans to a halt. With a soft huff, she made her way out onto the deck, finding that they were moving now. She smiled excitedly, darting over to where Tom and a couple of other men were stood.

"Harley, these two are Jason and Mark," he introduced. She smiled, waving and saying hello as they gave her friendly smiles. "I need you to give them a hand over here. They'll explain it all and tell you exactly what to do."

"Alright," she said, smiling brightly. Tom returned her smile before heading back in the direction of the rooms and his office. Harley turned back to the two men she'd been introduced too. "So... what do I do?"

"You see that deadly looking lump of tree right there?" Mark asked, pointing to the middle of the boat. Harley giggled, nodding.

"The one standing upright?" she asked. He nodded in confirmation.

"That's the main mast," he said. "The horizontal beam connected to it is called the boom, and if that hits you over the head, that'll cause a lot more problems than brain damage!"

"I'll keep that in mind," Harley said slowly. Mark smirked, ruffling her hair.

"These ropes right here," Jason began as Harley looked at him again. "Are what help to hold the damn thing still so we go forward as opposed to whatever direction the wind wants us to go. We control it, hence why we have a wheel up on the deck above Tom's office."

"So what do I need to do?" Harley asked, keen to start helping.

"You pull as hard as you damn well can," Jason laughed, handing her a thick white rope. She smiled, nodding as she started to pull.

"Where do I tie it off?" she asked.

"Clever girl," Mark complimented. "I could easily tell you that you don't, and you just have to hold it, but I know Tom would kill us if we did that to his new friend on the first day, so I won't. You tie it off to those steel hooks beside you."

Harley glanced beside her, seeing the hooks then nodding. "Got it!"

"Good girl," Jason said, ruffling her hair then pulling on his own rope. Mark soon took one of his own and started to pull. Within fifteen minutes, the ropes were all tied off and Jason and Mark were praising Harley for doing so well for such a small girl.

"So are you guys, like, pirates or something?" Harley teased. Mark smirked.

"I suppose you could call us that, yeah," he mused, leaning against the side of the boat with Harley between him and Jason. "You a Captain Jack fan then?"

"Too right!" Harley giggled. "So who's the Captain then?"

"We don't really pay much attention to the title business. That's a bit of fun we have during these trips. We're all just great friends," Jason said. "But, if you do want to go by the fun side of life, then that would be him."

Harley looked to where her new friend was pointing, eyes widening slightly and a soft gasp escaping her lips when her gaze fell on a familiarly tall man with a gentle smile on his face as he stood in the doorway to his little office.

"Tom?" she questioned, looking at Jason. He smiled and nodded.

"It was only fitting, since this is his family's boat an' all," he said. Harley nodded, looking back to Tom to analyse him more. He was wearing a black shirt, with an Emerald green waistcoat over it. His pants were dark brown, and he had brown leather boots on his feet. There was a black tricorn hat sat on his head, and the hat had a large white feather sticking out of it. His smile seemed to widen as he looked over in Harley's direction then made his way over to her. As he neared, she could see the shirt was light and baggy, obviously made of cotton. The vest was silk and velvet, almost quite regal looking. The pants he now had on looked thicker than cotton, but still too thin to be denim, so somewhere in between.

"Loving the hat, Tom," Harley giggled, earning an eye roll from the tall man.

"You're just jealous that it makes me look amazing," Tom scoffed in response. Harley was the one to roll her eyes this time. James and Mark just shared looks and watched the two bantering.

"Where are we heading, Tom?" Mark asked, finally gaining his fill in amusement.

"Wherever comes first," Tom responded, looking out over the ocean. "Germany? Or France, maybe?"

"I've always wanted to go to Paris," Harley said thoughtfully. Tom smiled, looking at her.

"Then France it is!" he said happily. "You'll love it there, I promise. It's beautiful, and it's full of history."

"I can't wait," Harley said, returning his smile.


	5. V

Harley spent a lot of that day out on the main deck, learning the ropes and helping out anywhere, in any way she could. She wanted to earn her place on Tom's ship, whether she'd been invited as a guest or not.

She quickly became good friends with Mark and Jason, finding they were the two she helped most, amongst helping other people.

Towards the evening, Harley excused herself to hide away in Tom's office, making a start on some of her University work while he and the crew docked up to go inland for an hour or two to start picking up supplies and a few other friends of theirs that were needed on board. Jason was left behind to keep an eye on the ship and on Harley. The blonde-brown haired girl couldn't understand why she needed to be watched, but she went with it to put Tom's paranoia to rest while he was supervising things on land.

Harley had worked her way through a big chunk of her research paper by the time she heard laughter floating through the air again, followed closely by footsteps crossing the wooden floor of the main deck. She smiled, capping her pen and getting up from Tom's comfortable chair to make her way out to greet him.

The Captain was easy to spot amongst the other men. He was one of the tallest, and he was dressed the finest. The other men he was talking and laughing with were dressed rather casually and all had travel bags on their shoulders and a box in their arms. The boxes were starting to get taken to the storage rooms, and assumabley the kitchen too. As Harley's stomach grumbled at the thought of food, a voice called across the deck to her, and she looked up to find Tom beckoning her over with a smile. She returned his smile and skipped over, tackling him into a hug.

"Get anything good? I'm starving!" she said immediately, making Tom laugh as he ruffled her hair.

"We've got the better cook out of us all on board now, so we'll be eating soon, I promise," Tom said. "Harley, I want to introduce you to some of my best friends." He stepped aside a little and motioned to four men stood with him, still smiling brightly at something he'd obviously said beforehand. Three of them were really tall, while the other was around Harley's height. "This is Chris, Zachary, Ray and Tadanobu."

"You have a freaking badass name, my friend," Harley said, grinning at Tadanobu. He grinned back, pulling her into a hug.

"I like you," he said. "We will be great friends, yes?"

"Too right!" Harley laughed. "Can I call you Dan though? I don't want to say your full name all the time, even if it is awesome as hell."

"Sure," he said, chuckling. Harley smiled happily then properly introduced herself.

"Okay, so as you can probably tell, I'm a little weird," she giggled. "I'm Harley."

"Pleasure to meet such a beautiful young lady," Zachary said, smiling as he lifted her hand to press a gentle kiss to the back of it, his light brown facial hair tickling her skin as he did. Harley blushed, giggling quietly.

"Zach! Leave the girl alone! You haven't even been here five minutes yet!" Ray laughed, shoving his friend playfully. Ray was a big man. Not just in height, but in body build too. He had what most people would call a beer gut, but he also had muscle. Definitely a strong man.

"Don't mind him," Chris chuckled, his accent sounding very Australian. He ruffled Zachary's hair, making the brown haired man glare playfully as he fixed it back into place. "He likes his ladies. Especially pretty ones. You're very beautiful, so I suggest you watch yourself."

"Oh, hush up," Harley muttered, shaking her head. "I'm pretty, yes, but I'm definitely nothing to be swooning over."

"I beg to differ," Zach said, flashing her a cheeky smile.

"Zach, enough," Tom laughed, noticing the blush beginning to spread over Harley's face.

"Alright, alright," Zach chuckled, pulling his bag onto his shoulder properly. "I'll be good, you bunch of killjoys."

"Good man," Ray teased, ruffling his hair up again before heading to where the cubby holes were to pick a bed for the trip. Tadanobu followed, soon closely followed by Chris and Zach. Harley was left standing with Tom, a bright smile on her face.

She stood a while, picking through her mind to work out their accents. Chris definitely sounded Australian, though it was unclear in some things he said. Ray was Irish, but it was difficult to tell if you weren't used to hearing that accent since it wasn't as strong as some. Zachary, like Tom, was English. It was very clear in the way he spoke, and even acted. Tadanobu, on the other hand, was a little harder to figure out, so Harley made a mental note to ask him where he came from.

"They're awesome," she finally said, looking at the light haired man still stood beside her. Tom smiled.

"I'm glad you like them," he said, leading her towards his cabin. "I figured you would. They're wonderful people. My best friends. I wouldn't be where I am today without them."

"That's cute," Harley teased. Tom rolled his eyes, shoving her playfully as they stepped into his office. Harley stumbled a little, laughing as she started to clear away her work so Tom could have his desk back.

"How much work did you manage to get through?" he asked, peering at the words scribbled down on various sheets of paper.

"A decent amount," Harley said, pushing all the papers and books back into her bag. "I still have one hell of a way to go yet, though."

"There's time," Tom said, smiling warmly. Harley nodded in agreement, returning his smile. "Did you want anything particular to eat? Zach's getting his shit sorted then he'll be cooking for us."

"Zach's a ladies' man _and_ a cook?" Harley asked, smirking slightly at the raised eyebrow she received from Tom. "I think I'm gonna enjoy his presence most then!"

"Hey! What about me?" Tom pouted. Harley laughed at him, leaning up to peck his cheek.

"You'll always be my favourite," she said simply, smiling as she made her way to her room to put her books away for the night.


	6. VI

During dinner that night, Harley had a wonderful time getting to know all of Tom's friends, and also mixing in with the other men who were on board. She was laughing and smiling the entire time they sat around and ate.

"So what are your full names?" Harley asked through a mouthful of chicken.

"I'm not telling you that one, sweetheart," Zach chuckled.

"Nor me. Sorry kid," Ray laughed.

"You guys suck!" Harley complained. "I'll tell you guys my full name if you do?"

"Tell us first and you have my word that we'll tell you in return," Chris said, holding his hand out to her. Harley smirked and shook it.

"You're on," she said. "Mine's Harley Quinn."

"Middle name?" Tadanobu asked. Harley shook her head, sipping at her wine.

"I wasn't given one," she said with a slight shrug. "My parents didn't think I needed one and they couldn't find one that they felt fit right with my name."

"That's a fair argument there," Tom said after a few moments, taking a bite of his own food.

"Alright, so I get to know your names now!" Harley said, grinning when the four men glared at Chris. He only smiled and shrugged.

"Chris Hemsworth," he said.

"You don't have a middle name either?" Harley asked. He shook his head.

"I never did find out why, but I don't have one," he said simply. Harley smiled, then looked expectantly at Ray, who huffed slightly before speaking.

"George Raymond Stevenson," he said. "But I hate my first name, and I don't like Raymond, so I've shortened it to just Ray."

"I like it. It's very nice," Harley complimented. "I don't know many people at all with the name Raymond. In fact, I think you're probably the only one."

"Well, now I do feel honoured," he chuckled, finishing off his wine.

"My name is Tadanobu Asano, but you have already shortened my name to Dan," the next man said. Harley smiled. Another one with no middle name.

"You have such a badass name. Seriously," she gushed, making Dan smile warmly at her. "I'm really, really sorry if I sound rude or anything, but where are you from? I cannot place your accent for the life of me!"

"It is alright. You don't sound rude at all," Dan chuckled. "I am from a little place in Japan called Yokohama."

"Japanese? That's so cool!" Harley exclaimed excitedly, making the men around her laugh. She then looked expectantly at the brown haired man who was yet to make any comments in this discussion aside from refusing to say his name. "Well Zach? What's your full name?"

"I will get Chris in his sleep for this," he grumbled. Harley giggled softly, making him smile smugly. "Zachary Levi Pugh. I hate it though, so I'm just Zach Levi."

"I love the name Zachary. I just have a thing for that name," Harley said, smiling as she rest her chin on the palms of her hands and looked at Zach. "If I ever have children, and I have a boy, I want to name him Zachary. It's a gorgeous name."

"I think I like my name now," Zach said, smiling as a faint blush flared up on his face. Harley smiled wider then gasped and looked at Tom.

"I still don't know your full name!" she said expectantly.

"I know, and you're not going to either," he said simply, smirking at her.

"But Tom!" she whined, dragging out the 'o' in his name. "Your friends have told me! And I told you mine! Please tell me? Please?"

"I'll only tell her if you don't, mate," Chris chuckled. Tom sent a glare at him, before sighing and running a hand through his hair.

"Fine," he muttered. "Thomas William Hiddleston."

"Oh wow," Harley said quietly.

"I know, it's awful," Tom muttered. Harley chuckled, shaking her head.

"It's not. It's a gorgeous name, Tom," he said, making him raise a brow at her. "It's so... it's so posh, and proper. It's a real gentleman's name, and it suits you perfectly. You are the perfect gentleman, with the name to match. I love it, I really do."

"You're too kind," Tom chuckled, smiling warmly at her.

The conversations soon switched to common interest, and carried on right through dinner. It was a calm, clear night. They hadn't yet set off again, deciding to stay docked while they ate so they could finish sorting everything they needed to before they set off again to travel overnight.

Zach, against his word to be good, was slipping in the occasional flirty look or comment towards Harley, making her blush and giggle every time, choosing to hide behind the rim of her wine glass and turn her attention back to the chicken and pasta in red wine and tomato sauce that Zach had cooked for them that night. Tom was a little jealous of the flirting, and Chris noticed, but it was pushed aside so there was no chance of the fun of the night being ruined by silly little arguments that shouldn't have to happen.

When dinner was done, Tom excused himself for the night, stating he'd be in his office if he was needed, and he took Harley with him for a while, wanting her company a little longer. He was quickly growing fond of the shorter girl, and he knew choosing her to bring along with him was a decision he'd not ever regret.

The two said nothing as they made their way to his cabin, but the silence wasn't in the slightest bit awkward. It was comfortable. Tom held the door open for her, like the gentleman he always has been, then closed it lightly behind them. Harley made her way into his office, sitting down in one of the chairs that sat at the edge of the room. Tom smiled at her, shrugging off his waist coat to hang it up on the hook that was on the wall. On that hook was a long black, velvet looking trench coat, with green detailing around the seams.

"So how are you enjoying things after your first day?" Tom asked, sitting himself down in his chair and lighting a small, vanilla scented tea candle to relax him more for the night.

"It's wonderful, Tom, thank you so much," Harley said, smiling widely at him. "I never thought I'd enjoy sailing around this much, and it's only been a day."

Tom chuckled, smiling joyfully. "I'm glad you're enjoying it so much, Harley. It means I'll be able to keep my promise of making sure you'd have a good time. And you will still get your University work done, won't you?"

"Of course I will. I'm not risking anything that'll make me fail and send two years of work to waste," she assured him with a bright, friendly smile as she got up to look around his office properly.

There were various bits of paper pinned to the walls, along with candles inside little glass lanterns. There were a couple of hooks hung up for coats, a small closet in the corner and a small selection of daggers and swords hung up along with a very old fashioned looking pistol. In the corner of her eye, Harley spotted a knife that seemed to have been dug slightly into the wood. The knife had a gold handle with a green stone in the end of it that sparkled lightly in the dim lighting. It was sat right in front of where Tom's desk was, so she could only assume he'd thrown it there. Hanging from that knife, was a slightly curled, mucky looking sheet of parchment paper.

"Who's this?" Harley asked, wandering over to get a closer look at the portrait. There was a man in the picture. It was like a prison mug shot, only a lot more sinister looking. He had long black hair that was slicked back neatly, an earring hanging from his left ear and a crooked looking smile on his face. Above it in bold red letters was the word 'WANTED' and beneath was a few details, including the man's name.

"Who?" Tom asked, getting up from his chair to have a look at what his new friend was looking at. Harley pointed, looking at him. "Ah. Captain Loki Laufeyson. Most treacherous, dangerous man in all the seven seas. He's been on the run for years. People are yet to find him. There's a huge reward going for anyone who can find him and turn him in."

"Have you ever seen him?" Harley asked curiously, turning to look at the picture again.

"A couple of times, yes, but I didn't pay mind to him. I'd rather not make contact with him for my own safety and the safety of my friends," he said simply. I smiled. He was so big hearted. He was sweet and he cared a lot.

"Has anyone ever pointed out that you look an awful lot like him?" Harley asked after a few minutes, glancing between Tom and Loki. Tom had raised his eyebrow at her in question, urging her to keep talking. "I mean, you guys have the same face structure, like, cheekbones that are strong enough to make any woman swoon, and your eyes are identical right down to the last detail with the only difference being the colour. I'm thinking that you've probably both got awesome bodies too. And you're both probably tall as fuck and all that."

"Cheekbones that make women swoon, eh?" he questioned, smirking at her. It was Harley's turn to raise an eyebrow. "Do my cheekbones make you swoon, Harley?"

"Do I look like I'm swooning, Thomas?" she mocked. He rolled his eyes and smiled, slapping the side of her head gently and playfully. In return she landed a gentle kick to his hip. The two of them burst into a fit of laughter, and ended up spending the rest of the time before Harley went to bed together, talking about anything and everything they could think of.


	7. VII

Usually Harley got a little sea sick on boats, but the gentle rocking of the boat as it moved slowly out of port that night helped send her into a peaceful sleep.

When she woke up the following morning, the smell of seawater invaded her senses, along with the faint smell of what smelt to be breakfast. She couldn't pick out exactly what was being cooked, but there was something made of batter or pastry in there somewhere.

Once she'd hauled herself out of her small bed and made herself look presentable for the day, she made her way up onto the main deck to see if anyone was up and roaming yet.

When Harley wandered onto the main deck, she was happy to find she wasn't the only one awake at this hour. Tom was stood near the edge of the boat, leaning on the wood and looking out over the ocean as the sun continued to rise. She quietly made her way over, wrapping her cardigan tighter around herself to fight off the morning chill.

"Good morning," she greeted quietly, smiling when Tom jumped a little. He looked at her, returning her smile.

"Morning," he said. "I didn't expect you up for at least another hour yet."

"What time is it?" she asked, covering her mouth as she yawned. Tom chuckled lightly at her and pulled a silver pocket watch from his trouser pocket.

"It's almost eight," he said. Harley nodded. "We're the only ones up so far. Well, Zach is too, but he's in the kitchen getting breakfast sorted."

"I thought I could smell food," Harley chuckled. "What's he making?"

"Said something about waffles and bacon," Tom snorted, laughing lightly. "Come to think of it, he said he was making my coffee, too." Tom turned to head to the kitchens, then stopped and glanced over his shoulder at Harley. "Do you want one?"

"I'd love one, thank you," she responded, smiling brightly at him as her sleepy state started to disappear. He smiled, nodding before making his way back inside.

Harley sighed softly, leaning against the edge of the boat and staring out at the horizon as the sun continued to rise, bringing in the new day. Harley didn't think there'd be much to do today, since they were in the middle of the ocean. She knew she'd more than likely be doing University work for the day between helping out on deck. She made a mental note to ask Tom if he wanted to start going over his scripts, too, knowing he'd need to make a start on them soon, else they'd never get done.

For a while, Harley just stood and watched the horizon as things around her remained peaceful. As Tom came out with her coffee fifteen minutes later, she could hear other people starting to move around, and one of the first to appear was Chris.

"Morning you two," he greeted, smiling sleepily at the pair as he approached them, brushing his fingers through his dark blonde hair. "How did you sleep?"

"Pretty well, thank you," Tom said, sipping his coffee.

"I usually get sea sick, but I've been alright," Harley confessed.

"I'm glad you've been alright. I'd hate to have to take you home early because you can't handle the ocean," Chris chuckled. Harley smiled, shaking her head in amusement as she sipped slowly from her own mug of hot coffee.

"So what's today's plan, Captain?" Ray asked, stretching his muscles out as he approached the three. Tom rolled his eyes, making Ray chuckle.

"We still have a good few hours of sailing to do before we reach land," Tom said. "So we can just do whatever we please until then."

"Then I think it'd be a good time for you to start working on those scripts of yours," Chris said, smirking at his tall friend. Tom rolled his eyes again, smiling as he nodded.

"I should probably get more work done," Harley huffed. The men laughed and Tom shook his head.

"No. I want you to help me with my scripts for a while," he said. Harley smiled at him.

"Sure. Should be easy enough," she said. "And it means I get first peeks at stuff you're going to be in before they're even put into full practise!"

"Yes, but it also means you can't tell anyone about it," Tom chuckled. Harley rolled her eyes, pretending to zip her mouth closed.

"I won't tell a soul, I promise," she said simply. Tom smiled and nodded.

"Thank you," he said. "Go and get yourself ready for the day. I'll come and find you when I'm ready, alright?"

"Sure," she said, skipping off towards the cabin. As she reached the door, she turned to look at them again. "Send someone in for me when breakfast is ready, too! I'm starving!"

"Will do, kid," Ray laughed. Harley grinned before disappearing in the direction of her little room. Tom sighed softly, ruffling his light coloured curls.

"When are you going to tell her, mate?" Chris asked, looking at his friend.

"If I can help it, I'm not," Tom confessed. "I don't want her to think any differently of me for lying to her. I won't be able to handle it if she decides she hates me for it. She's a wonderful woman and a great friend. I couldn't bear to see her hurt. It'd crush me."

"What are you going to do if she finds those old clothes that were left behind after the last time?" Ray asked quietly. Tom groaned, running his fingers through his hair again.

"I don't know, Ray. I'll come up with another lie if I have too, but the bigger part of me is hoping she won't find them," Tom said. "I don't want her to know about any of this. I just want a normal friend that doesn't have a secret to hide or a lie to live. It's not fair on her if that has to happen. She has so much potential in so many things..."

As Tom trailed off, Ray and Chris shared a look, then looked back at their English friend.

"Do you think she'd ever be fit to stand beside you as a ruler?" Ray asked as the three made their way down to the kitchen in hopes of getting some advice from Zachary.

"She's more than fit to," Tom said. "But I don't want that for her. It'd be her choice, but it's a choice she'll never get to make."

"Tom, think about it, won't you? Perhaps with a woman like her around, things would plan out differently," Ray argued.

"What do you mean?" Tom asked.

"If you had someone with a will as strong as hers seems to be, then maybe doing what you do for a living would become easier. She'd be able to take some of the stress off your shoulders and the problems from your plate. She could help you, Tom," he said. Tom bit his lip lightly and looked at Chris as they pushed open the kitchen door.

"What do you think about this?" he asked. Chris shrugged.

"I think Ray could be right," he admitted.

"Right about what?" Zachary asked, poking his head out from behind a cupboard door.

"We're having a dilemma, my friend!" Ray said, approaching the brunette man. "Tom here wants to keep this lie up and never tell his new friend about what's really going on, but Chris and I think telling her the truth would benefit him in the long run."

"Do explain more," Zach said, pulling out a few plates and starting to set them out on the table.

Tom and Chris started to help set the table for breakfast while Ray explained everything they'd discussed to Zach. When the explanation was done, Zach stood rubbing his stubbly chin for a minute before nodding.

"I agree with Ray and Chris, Tom," he said, making Tom groan in annoyance. "Think about it, old friend. If a woman like her were to help you take charge of things, then perhaps bribery and the likes would become easier! She is gorgeous, right? She could be the cause of many a distraction to those we pay visits too. She's smart and very strong willed. She'd do wonders for this life of yours."

"Let's just wait it out. We'll talk more when she's gone to bed tonight," Tom sighed. The three nodded, and Zach excused himself to go and fetch Harley and the others for breakfast.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to take the time to quickly thank you for the 11 Kudos and the 163 hits. I'm glad there's people enjoying this on here, and I hope I can continue to keep you interested. ^-^ Please leave me a comment on what you think and stuff? I always love hearing feedback. <3


	8. VIII

Harley was just pulling on a shirt and straightening herself up a little when a knock came on the wooden door to her room.

"Come in!" she called, grabbing a brush to pull through her hair, aiming to detangle it so it wouldn't get worse when she pulled it back into a bun.

"You look very chirpy for someone awake at something past nine in the morning, m'lady."

Harley laughed, glancing over at the door with a bright smile on her face. She pulled the elastic band from around her wrist, then started to tug her hair back.

"Thanks, Zach," she chuckled. "I think it's just the sea air around me. It makes a world of difference, y'know?"

"I have to agree on that one," Zach chuckled. Harley smiled, finishing off her look for the day then pushing all the loose stuff back into her bag.

"What did you want?" Harley asked, approaching the tall man in her doorway.

"I was sent to get you for breakfast," he said simply, smiling at the grin that lit up the girl's face.

"Finally!" she laughed. She leant up, lightly pecking his cheek. "Thanks, Zach."

"No problems, little one," he said, petting her head playfully before heading away to retrieve the rest of the crew. Harley made her way to the kitchen with a skip in her step, finding her small group of friends already sat around the table tucking in to the food Zach had spent the morning cooking up.

"Smells good down here," Harley said, making herself known.

"Harley! Nice of you to join us!" Ray exclaimed loudly, making Harley laugh. "Come sit! Eat some of this glorious food before the rest of those brutes get down here!"

"Glorious huh?" Harley mused, slipping herself in the space between Tom and Chris. "Don't swell Zach's ego too much, else he'll have to permanently live in the kitchen from not being able to get out the door."

Harley was smirking and piling food onto her plate as her friends started laughing at the brunette's expense. Others soon started to pile in, closely followed by Zach.

"What tickled you lot?" he asked, sitting himself bedside Tadanobu.

"I was just saying how amazing your food is," Harley cut in before anyone could get a word in. "But Ray started saying I shouldn't feed your ego, else you'll have to live down here."

Snickers started spreading through the group as Zach's mouth fell slightly. The corners of his lips threatened to curl up into a smirk as he looked at Ray.

"Lies! The girl speaks bullshit!" Ray exclaimed, glancing wide-eyed at Harley. The group started roaring with laughter at what was going on. Harley simply smiled sweetly and took a bite of pancake.

"I say we settle this with a sparring match after breakfast," Zach mused. Ray huffed.

"You're on, my friend," he said. "Winner gets what?"

"Whatever they please," Zach said. "My want would be to be relieved of all bathroom duties for the next week."

"Aye, you've got it," Chris chuckled after an approving nod from Tom. "What about you, Ray?"

"Mine will be a secret, as I'm quite positive I'm going to get the upper hand this time," he chuckled.

"Alright. Shake on it, and let us eat," Tom said, watching the two men shake hands. "We'll settle this with a spar out on deck once breakfast is done."

Conversation started to flow after that moment. The crew talked and laughed amongst themselves while the food quickly went down. Harley learnt by how fast food was going down that there wasn't always time for a meal in the middle of the day, so a big breakfast was always eaten just to keep the men going.

Harley and her new friends continuously cracked jokes and mocked each other while they ate, and the spar that was quickly approaching kept being brought up. When things started getting cleared up, just to make things more interesting, Chris started collecting spoken bets.

"Who do you think will win this little spar up on deck in half an hour?" he asked loudly. There were a few calls of Ray's name to begin with, making the bigger man grin. But when all bets piled up for Zach, his grin fell, being replaced with a huff as the younger brunette stood smirking.

"Looks like I'm kissing goodbye to this week's bathroom chores," he bragged.

"Just you wait, friend. You may find that I'll have the upper hand," Ray said simply. When all in the kitchen was done and cleared, everyone started making their way up to the deck and forming a circle right in the middle. Tom had gone into his office long enough to grab a couple of long swords he kept aside for these situations, and Ray and Zach situated themselves face to face in the middle of the formed circle.

"Ready to lose again, old friend?" Zach asked confidently.

"Bite your tongue, Zachary. You may be eating those words soon enough," Ray chuckled.

"Positions, both of you," Tom ordered. Zach and Ray shared a smirk before taking a couple of steps away from each other. Their sword arms were held in front of them while their free arms were behind their backs. "On three."

"One," Chris counted.

"Two," Tom continued.

"Three!" Harley exclaimed, grinning. The two men grinned back at her before focusing on each other and beginning their battle.

Swords started clashing and the wood of the deck thudded beneath their footsteps. Harley paid close attention to how the two moved around. Zach was very light on his feet, whereas Ray was quick with his defences.

"Come on now! I thought you said you could beat me!" Zach laughed.

"You haven't won yet, Zach," Ray chuckled, blocking another attack from the younger man.

Minutes ticked by, and men were cheering for the two sparring. Most seemed to want Zach to keep his title as the better fighter, but few were beginning to root for Ray to knock Zach down from his podium.

Ray soon started to tire, so Zach quickly gained the upper hand. Within seconds after, he'd disarmed the older man and pointed the top of the sword at his nose, smirking triumphantly.

"It seems I'm not cleaning that wretched bathroom this week, friend," he chuckled, bringing his arm down so his sword sat at his side. Ray chuckled, smiling as he nodded in defeat.

"I believe so, my friend," he said, holding his hand out. "Another good fight, Zachary."

"A lot of fun, Ray," Zach agreed, shaking his hand. People were cheering and laughing. Even Harley was. This was their entertainment out at sea. Fighting each other for friendly fun.

The blonde-brown haired girl spotted Ray's sword on the floor and an idea formed in her head. She glanced at Tom, seeing his breathtakingly blue eyes locked on the two in the centre of the circle as he smiled and laughed, clapping for them both. Harley moved forward and swept up the sword, testing its weight in her hands. Once she was happy with it, she smirked to herself and looked back at Tom, who was now looking over at her. He raised his eyebrow.

"What are you doing with that?" he asked. Other men started to look over to her, including Zach and Ray.

"Figured I'd try my luck against the champion," she shrugged, smirking at the brunette. "If he's not afraid of a challenge, of course."

Zach chuckled, smiling brightly at the shorter girl. "What happens if you win?"

"If I win, you give me a massage every night for the rest of my trip," she said. Zach smirked.

"Alright, I agree," he said. "But what if I win? What do I get out of this deal?"

"If you win.." Harley trailed off, biting her lip in thought. A smirk then formed, the corner of her lip still caught between her teeth sexily. "If you win, Zach, I'll kiss you."

"I agree!" he immediately said, grinning. "You'd better be a good kisser, Harley. I've not lost a spar in six years."

"There's a first time for everything, Zach," Harley mused, glancing at Tom, who's face seemed to have fallen.

"You think you have what it takes to beat me, Harley?" Zach asked, twirling his sword in his hand. "I mean, it doesn't matter. Whatever happens, I'll get to be near you somehow. But do you honestly think you have what it takes?"

"I don't know. I guess we'll have to find out," she said, tucking her arm behind her back and smirking. "Someone count us in, please!"

"No dirty fighting, Zachary!" Chris warned in a chuckle. Zach simply rolled his eyes and placed his hand back behind his back. "One... two... three!"

Swords clashed straight away. Harley very quickly picked up on the gist of what she was supposed to be doing. Like Zach, she stayed light on her feet, but like Ray, she was good at defence. When Zach sent a jab straight for her well formed chest, she spun out of the way and stepped behind him. She brought her foot up to his ass and gave him a shove, making him stumble forward then spin to face her.

"I thought this was a clean fight!" he exclaimed, gaining his balance and holding out his sword in defence.

"No one told me that _I_ couldn't fight dirty," she said with a dark smirk. A chorus of 'ooh' echoed around them, and a few chuckles could be heard.

"You demon!" Zach laughed, aiming a jab at her again. "If you can fight dirty, then so can I!"

"Give it all you've got, _Zachary_ ," she teased. A shiver ran down Zach's spine and a smirk formed on his lips. Within minutes, he was fighting her with everything he had, and she was proving to be a wonderful opponent. But, the fight was soon over. Zach had played dirty and disarmed her, pinning her to the edge of the boat when the crowd had parted. He was breathing heavily as sweat dripped down his face, and the flat, smooth side of the blade pressed against Harley's heated skin, leaving a cold line in its place.

"I win, princess," Zach said lowly, his voice thick with exhaustion. Harley chuckled softly, gently shoving him away from her.

"I believe you're correct," she said, holding her hand out to him. They shook and shared friendly smiles. "That was fun. We should spar more often."

"You are definitely a worthy opponent, Harley," Zach complimented, his eyes trailing over her figure as she walked away from him. "Hey! Where's my prize for remaining the champion?"

Harley giggled, turning around as she retrieved her sword and handed it back to Tom, who'd plastered a smirk onto his face.

"Sorry, Zach," she said, approaching the tall man. Before another word was spoken, Harley had reached up and gripped fistfuls of his light brown hair, making him gasp as he was pulled down into a fierce kiss. His sword dropped from his hand and clattered to the floor as his arms wrapped tightly around her waist, pinning their bodies together. Harley pushed herself up onto her tip-toes, pushing her chest against his. Zach moaned into her mouth and slid his hands down to grip her ass.

Wolf whistles and cat calls sounded around them. People were cheering them on and laughing as they watched their friend making out with the only girl on the ship.

"Get some!" Ray laughed.

"Put her down, Zachary!" Chris exclaimed, grinning in the direction of his friend. "Let the girl breathe!"

When they finally parted, both were breathing heavily. Their foreheads pressed together and both chuckled softly. Harley nibbled his lower lip playfully and he stole another quick kiss in return.

"You and I should spar more often," Zach repeated breathlessly. Harley simply smiled and stepped away from him, turning back towards the others. Chris, Ray and Tadanobu were grinning and laughing. Tom had a smirk on his face, but his eyes were burning with jealousy and anger. Harley smirked to herself, strutting into the main cabin to head back to her room to cool off and change, leaving the large group of men behind her.


	9. IX

"For a minute there I thought you were going to suck out her soul or something," Ray chuckled as Zach approached them and handed his sword back to Tom.

"You spend far too much time reading Harry Potter, my friend," he chuckled. "But she is a wonderful kisser. I may have to make that deal with her and spar more often!"

A disapproving grunt came from the Captain as he turned on his heels and made his way back into his cabin to put away the weapons. The four men frowned.

"What did I say?" Zach asked, genuinely confused.

"I have a feeling it's to do with what we talked to him about before breakfast," Chris said. "We're talking about all that, you agreed with us, and then you stood and made out with her. I might be wrong. I'll talk to him. But I have a feeling that's what it is."

"I meant nothing by it," Zach said, frowning. "Surely he knows this."

"You know what the man's like," Ray said sadly, glancing in the direction of Tom's cabin. "Once he has his heart set on something, he doesn't like anyone getting in his way. Especially not where a woman is involved."

"I feel awful now," Zach said sadly. "It was purely harmless fun, and it was her idea to make those deals!"

"Zach, we know it means nothing, but he doesn't know that, does he? You've been flirting with the girl since we got here. And right in front of him, too!" Ray argued. Zach groaned, running his hands over his face and back through his hair.

"Do you think I should talk to him? You know, apologise and such?" he asked. Chris shook his head.

"Leave him be a while, friend. I'll talk to him first. Let him cool off," he said simply. Zach nodded, heading back to his own cabin to cool off and change out of his sweaty clothes. Chris gave Ray and Tadanobu a quick 'see you later' then made his way to his best friend's cabin.

He could hear the Englishman muttering angrily to himself when he approached the door, and almost didn't want to go in. But he knew he had too. He always talked his way around Tom no matter how angry the younger man was. He knocked the door lightly, and the muttering ceased.

"Yes?"

"Tom? It's me, mate. Can I come in?" Chris heard a sigh at his words, followed by an invitation. Chris pushed the door open and stepped inside the little office, closing the door behind him.

"Hey, Chris," Tom murmured.

"Bit dangerous to be acting like this with Harley around, isn't it?" the Australian asked gently. Tom sighed, running a hand through his messy hair.

"I know. I just needed a reminder of who I am," Tom said simply, pulling himself together again as he started to calm down. "Is Zach trying to piss me off or is it truly an accident that he is?"

"He doesn't mean a thing by what's going on, Tom, you know that," Chris said, stepping further into the room. "What happened today meant nothing. It was his prize for winning that spar against her and it was _her_ idea to kiss him, not his. He just didn't say no. He could have, yes, but she is a beautiful woman. She's smart, she's funny too. Hell, I'd kiss her myself if I could. She's wonderful, and I think he's making the most of it while he still can. It means nothing though, mate. He wants to be her friend and it means the world to him that she's so nice to him even when he's flirting. She's playing his game. I don't know her reasoning for it, but she's clearly got motivation."

"You need to stop knowing what to bloody say," Tom muttered, giving his friend a smile. Chris just chuckled.

"You wouldn't be able to handle all this without me knowing what to say," he teased. Tom just rolled his eyes and sat himself down in his high backed chair, kicking his feet up onto the desk.

"What do you mean by _while he still can_?" he asked curiously. Chris scoffed.

"Come _on_ , Tom! You and I both know how you feel about her. Who cares if you've only known her a week or so? The point is you've known her that long. You and I also both know that what we talked about this morning is... we were right, Tom. She'd do you a hell of a lot of good," he argued. Tom sighed in frustration, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"You don't know that, Chris. None of you do!" he said. "And even if she is, I can't risk losing her. I lost someone before after promising her everything, and I won't let Harley go the same way! Not to those bastards."

"This is why you _have_ to tell her the truth, mate. If she knows, then she'll be more prepared for what could possibly happen. The longer you lie to her, the harder things will become, and the more pissed off she'll be if she finds out on her own," Chris reasoned. Tom only sighed again, closing his eyes and leaning back in his chair. "I'll leave you think about it for a while. Zach will want to talk to you at some point. He's really worried about you, y'know. He feels horrible for upsetting you."

"Alright," Tom murmured, nodding slightly. "Thanks Chris."

"Any time, mate," Chris said simply, smiling slightly before heading back out onto the deck. Harley was just coming from her room in fresh clothes with a neat pony tail in her hair when he stepped out through the wooden door.

"Hey Chris," Harley greeted cheerfully.

"Hey, kid," Chris said. "Do you feel better?"

"Much," Harley said. "What else do you guys do for fun? Sparring was fucking brilliant. I might give it another go later with one of the other guys. But for now, I need to know what the hell else you guys do for fun!"

Chris laughed, wrapping an arm around her shoulder and leading her out to the others. "Drinking games, mostly, but we save those for the evenings when we're docked just in case someone gets too drunk and goes overboard. And it has happened. Zach was a victim once and so was Dan."

"No way?" Harley gasped, laughing. "Tell me about those times!"

"It'll be funnier coming from the guys themselves," Chris chuckled, leading her to the group. "Lads, I believe we have stories to tell our guest! She wants to know what we do for fun."

"Oh, do we have some stories to tell you, little lady," Ray laughed.

"Some of them are embarrassing, but they're funny all the same," Dan commented. Harley giggled.

"I'll take your word for it," she said, allowing the four men to lead her to the edge of the deck so they were out of the way of those working. And for most of that day, the men sat telling stories of past trips and the mischief they all got up too.


	10. X

With her new friends telling her stories of past travels, time passed by quickly, and before long Zach had to excuse himself to make lunch, deciding to take Ray with him for help. Dan followed, wanting to get some work done for a change, leaving Chris to keep Harley company.

"You guys got up to some weird, but wonderful sounding adventures," she said, sighing happily as her laughter finally died down. "Did Zach really get into that much trouble for managing to sleep with someone's daughter?"

"Oh yeah," Chris chuckled, pushing his hair back from his face. "The man was absolutely furious. So much so that he threw Zach overboard himself. It was funny as hell to see, but oddly, we haven't been back to that place since. I think Zach's still bothered by the fact the gentleman would've shot him if we'd stuck around or gone near them again."

"Surely he'd have forgotten who you all are by now if it's really been something over seven years?" she questioned. Chris shrugged.

"Some people never forget. One image you can't ever burn out of your mind is seeing someone doing something sexual. I think Zach scarred the poor man for life with his dick up her ass like that," Chris said with a shrug.

"Oh God," Harley giggled, scrunching her nose up in disgust. "Anal? He caught them going at it doggy style?"

"That's why he wanted to shoot Zach as bad as he did. Not only had he stolen his daughter's innocence, but he took her up the bum too!" Chris chortled. Harley just kept giggling.

Chris opened his mouth to speak again as Harley began to calm down, but he was cut off by a voice calling him.

"Chris! You're not too busy right now are you?" Jason asked as he approached.

"Just entertaining our travel guest," Chris chuckled, smiling at Harley. "Why, what's up?"

"Need your muscled assistance in the store rooms," Jason said.

"You going to be alright?" Chris asked, looking at Harley as the two of them got up. She nodded, smiling brightly.

"I'll be fine," she said, waving him off. "I'll go and check on Tom. I've not seen him since the sparring with Zach. I'm worried about him."

"Alright. I'll see you later," Chris said, hugging her tightly then heading off with Jason in tow. Harley hummed happily to herself as she made her way to the cabins with a slight skip in her step. She could hear muttering becoming more frustrated by the minute. She could tell it was Tom, and by the fact he was muttering sentences that wouldn't be used in this day and age, she knew he was practising a script. Or trying too, at least.

She knocked lightly on the door, causing all muttering to cease. "Tom?"

"Come in, Harley." She pushed open his door, giving him a smile as he looked at her. He returned it, seemingly relaxing slightly. "What can I do for you?"

"I wanted to come and see how you are," Harley said, stepping into the room and closing the door behind her. "I've not seen you since the sparring matches. Are you alright?"

"Yes, yes, I'm fine," Tom said. Harley could see the lies in his eyes, but she didn't push it. "I just really need to start working on some scripts properly, you know?"

"I could hear you," Harley chuckled. Tom gave a sheepish smile as he set his script down on the desk. Harley leant forward, picking it up to look over. "Here, let me help you."

"You don't have too, Harley. I thought you were hanging with Chris and the others?" he questioned. Harley shrugged.

"They all have duties and I don't," Harley said. "Besides, I want to help you, Tom. I want helping you to be my duty while I'm here."

"If you say so," he chuckled, smiling fondly at her. "I've not looked at this past the fifth page yet. I can't get them right. Not fully."

"Alright," Harley said, nodding understandingly and flipping to the second page. "Oh, here. Go from the line where your character says... um... 'why would the sun not shine?'. I'll read the parts in between."

"Alright," Tom agreed, smiling as he shrugged off his waist coat then straightened himself up, beginning to speak out the lines along with Harley. For the most part, he got them right, only occasionally suffering a playful scolding from the brunette haired girl.

By the time they were called upon for dinner, Tom had perfected the parts he couldn't do before, and they were almost near the port in Paris.

"Finally!" Tom exclaimed happily, grinning as he pulled his waistcoat back on. Harley laughed softly at him, placing the script down neatly.

"You're sounding great, Tom. I can't wait to see this with all the proper parts being done," Harley complimented. Tom smiled proudly.

"You know, if you wanted me too, I could talk to the people I work with when I get back in a few weeks and I could ask them to fit you in somewhere in any new productions. You sound amazing. You don't even know this one and just by reading it you know how the characters should sound and act," Tom said as the two made their way to the kitchen to join the rest of the crew.

"And there's the couple of the hour!" Ray laughed loudly. Tom raised an eyebrow in question and smiled as Harley giggled and sat herself down in the space beside Chris.

"What are you talking about?" Tom asked, laughing as he squeezed himself in on Harley's other side.

"We were just saying how rude it'd be to begin without the Captain!" Zach chuckled.

"You've never let my absence stop you before," Tom pointed out as he dished himself up some food.

"We were talking about Harley, actually," Ray said with a stuck up sniffle. A chorus of 'ooh' flooded around the table, and Harley just snickered at the look on Tom's face.

"Better be careful, my friend," Tom warned, pointing his fork at Ray. "Wouldn't want you to fall overboard while we rest here a day or two, would we?"

"You're a cruel man, Thomas," Ray chuckled in response.

"Oh, I know," Tom chuckled. "How else do you think I became captain?"

"Tom!" Harley scolded, nudging her tall friend in the side.

"What?" Tom laughed.

"Be nicer to your friends! Or maybe I'll take up their talk of me being captain and make you do some proper work!" she teased. Tom just rolled his eyes, shaking his head in amusement with a smile on his face as they all started eating.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I disappeared a while, I'm sorry! I forgot all about this one in the process of getting back into the swing of waking up early for college and the likes. o:  
> But I'm back now, as you can tell from my Frostiron post that appeared a day or two ago (please check it out if you haven't already, and leave me a comment if you would be so kind <3)
> 
> Between college work, and actual work that I have to go to when I get a shift, I'm gonna update this as regularly as I can. We shall see how it all goes. And hopefully there'll be another couple of one-shots appearing at some point too, depending whether or not I can get my ideas sorted. Much love, all. <3


	11. XI

Harley had finished her dinner long before the men of the crew had. After politely excusing herself, she went back to her room to figure out what she was going to wear once they were docked up for a day or two. She wanted to look her best while she was in Paris for the first time. She wanted to make an impression. Not just on those she'd be meeting in the streets, but on her friends, too. More specifically, the Captain.

The dark eyed girl quickly settled on a light blue pair of jeans with frayed patches in the knees, and a white off the shoulder shirt with her grey ballet flats. She made herself look presentable, then did a little bit of makeup and pulled her hair into a messy but attractive looking bun, and grabbed her knee-length black coat in case she needed it. As she made to head out of her room, she tripped over a floorboard. She yelped slightly as she caught her toe, then turned around to see what she'd fallen over exactly.

"That wasn't there before," she muttered to herself, feeling confused by the fact she was sure nothing was loose when she first arrived on the boat.

Placing her coat down on the bed, Harley crouched down and started pulling at the wood, finding it easily coming away. She made a mental note to have someone fix this for her in case she really badly hurt herself on it somehow. Heaven knows she would, since she could be really clumsy at the best of times. As she made to push the wood back down as much as she could, a piece of pretty fabric caught her eye, making her lift the board back up. She frowned slightly, finding a small storage space stuffed with fabrics of all kinds and a pair of brown leather boots. She pulled everything out, finding a couple of outfits. _Female_ outfits.

All Harley could feel was hurt and anger burning inside her. Tom had told her she's the first woman to ever be brought on this boat, but the clothes she'd found told her otherwise. This was something she shouldn't really be this upset about, but she was. He'd lied to her, and that didn't settle well with her.

Deciding not to ruin her day before it had really begun, Harley shoved the clothes back into their hiding place and fixed herself up, then went out on deck to wait for everyone else. Mark was already up on deck with Jason and a few of the other men steering the ship into the very empty dock they'd be staying in for a day or two.

"Harley! There you are!" Jason said happily, grinning when she met his gaze. "Where did you go, little friend?"

"I went to change into something a little more decent," Harley chuckled. "Do I look okay?"

"You look lovely, lass," one of the other men said as he passed her. Mason, she believed his name was. She smiled and thanked him, then turned to find her friends appearing.

"My, my, don't you look lovely and girly?" Ray teased with a chuckle. Harley rolled her eyes and smiled at him.

"Thanks," she said.

"You look lovely, darling," Tom complimented, smiling brightly. He looked a lot more casual now. He was wearing a black leather jacket over his white shirt, and he'd switched his boots for a pair of brown suede shoes.

"You don't look too bad yourself," Harley complimented in return, temporarily forgetting why she was even mad at him in the first place. Once the boat had become as still as it could be in the gentle waters of the dock, Tom looked to his friends.

"I'm taking Harley on a tour of the city. I need you guys to please make sure everything goes smoothly here. We're staying for a couple of days because there's just so much I want to show her, but I still need things to run smoothly," Tom instructed.

"It's no problems, my friend. This isn't the first time you've gone touring and left us too it. Difference is, you have a lady with you this time," Chris chuckled. Tom laughed softly, smiling.

"Alright. I'll see you guys tonight," he said, leading Harley to the edge of the boat to help her climb down. "Don't forget to make sure that generator is charged up! Lighting isn't a problem. I just need power to get some use in my laptop for a couple of days. I need some stuff that's on there."

"Will do!" Chris promised. Tom nodded, satisfied with leaving things with his friends.

Tom got down from the ship first, then held the ladder steady for Harley to climb down after him. When she was a few steps from the bottom, Tom's hands held her waist firmly and lifted her down, making her blush faintly as she smiled thankfully at him.

"Where to first, m'lady?" he asked, holding his arm out to her. Harley giggled and linked her arm with his, happily leaning against him.

"Wherever you want to take me, kind Sir," she responded. Tom chuckled softly, keeping her close as they walked.

Chris and the others stood watching as the two made their way towards the town, and they all shared smiles.

"Aren't they sweet?" Ray commented, smiling happily.

"They are," Zach agreed, watching as their Captain walked away with a beautiful girl on his arm. "If they don't get this sorted by the end of the week, I think I'll make a move myself."

"Yes, because that went so well when you made out with her," Chris said, rolling his eyes as he walked back towards the cabins.

"I was kidding!" Zach defended, hurriedly following the Australian man. Ray and Dan just shared a look and laughed to themselves, watching their Captain and his friend until they were both out of sight.

"Do you think he'll ever tell her the truth?" Ray asked thoughtfully. Dan gave a slight shrug as they turned around to start preparing to get their jobs done.

"Hard to say," Dan admitted. "But I do hope he will. He cannot lie to her forever. It is not fair on her."

"A very wise point, old friend," Ray said sadly. "Let's hope he uses the days he's taking her around the city to tell her the truth."


	12. XII

"Ooh, Tom, I wanna see the Eiffel Tower!" Harley exclaimed excitedly as the two left the seventh store they'd looked around in. Tom laughed softly at Harley's excitement, but agreed to her request anyway.

"Alright. Come on," he said, grabbing her hand and pulling her in the direction of the famous tower of France's capital city.

As the Eiffel Tower came into view, a soft gasp left Harley's lips as she gazed up it in wonder. She didn't say anything, only stared in amazement. She'd seen it so many times on TV and in books, but she didn't realise it'd be this amazing up close.

"It's freaking huge!" she exclaimed, making Tom laugh as she blushed faintly.

"I know. Come on. Let's go inside," Tom said, pulling her to the short cue to get inside. Tom paid for their tickets once they got to the desk, then he pulled Harley into the lift, apologising to people in French for accidently nudging or stepping on them.

"You speak French?" Harley questioned. Tom nodded.

"Yes. I also speak Greek, Italian and Spanish," he bragged. Harley poked her tongue out at him, making him chuckle.

"Show off," she snorted. Tom just smiled, not letting go of her hand as the lift climbed up the tower. They stopped first on the first level to have a look at the food stalls that were there, and Tom bought Harley a fresh, warm waffle with chocolate sauce and a scoop of vanilla ice-cream.

"Does it taste okay?" Tom asked as the two made their way to the lift to go higher.

"So good," Harley said through a mouthful of her sweet treat. "Do you want some?"

"I can get another one later," Tom said, smiling. Harley shook her head, getting some onto her small spoon and holding it towards him.

"I'm not gonna be able to finish all this. Not now, at least. This thing is freaking huge compared to the ones back in England," she said. Tom shook his head, but after a few minutes of Harley insisting, he took the bite he'd given her and hummed happily at the mix of tastes on his tongue.

"Tastes as good as I remember," he said happily, pulling Harley into the half empty lift.

"How many times have you been here?" Harley asked curiously.

"A good few times," Tom said simply.

On the second floor, the two spent loads of time looking at all the cute little souvenirs that they had in the stalls. Harley batted her eyelashes a little and got Tom to buy her a little model of the Eiffel Tower, along with a couple of small chocolate tower shapes for the four men they'd be going back to.

Harley even braved stepping out onto the balcony to take a look at the view. The sun was out, and there were a handful of fluffy white clouds in the sky.

"Oh wow," Harley said softly. "This looks amazing, Tom. Doesn't it?"

"It does, but come on, I'll show you a far better view," he said, pulling her into the lift once more.

"I didn't know this goes any higher," Harley said, frowning slightly. Tom just smiled, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and letting her lean against his side. His stomach was filling with butterflies at the feel of her against him like this. He knew he had to do something about it before Zach moved in again, though he knew Zach probably wouldn't do that to him. Not after the last time Tom lost a girl to someone else.

When the lift stopped at the top, Harley's eyes widened. She was a little frightened of heights, so she didn't want to leave the safety of the lift. But, with gentle, reassuring words from Tom, and a promise for him to not let go of her waist even though there was a safety net around the top too, Harley slowly stepped out with Tom's hands gently holding and massaging her waist.

"Wow," she breathed, looking around at the view of Paris. She could see the streets they'd already been through, and the places she wanted to go next.

"What do you think?" Tom asked, slipping himself closer to her so his arms wrapped around her middle and his chest pressed against her back.

"This is amazing," Harley said, looking back at him then out over the city again. "Tom, this.. this is amazing."

The two spent more time there than any of the other floors, talking and sharing Harley's waffle as she pointed out all the places she wanted to see while they were docked here for a break. Tom simply agreed, promising to take her anywhere she wanted to go as he held her close to him and let her feed him little bites of her waffle. In his head, this was a date, and in his head is where it'd stay. He didn't have a clue how she felt about him, and he didn't want to risk ruining everything. Not yet. Not while he was allowed to hold her this way to protect her from her fear of falling off the tower.

After Harley had her fill of the view and had shown Tom everywhere she wanted to go, he took her back down to the ground level to head in the direction of a restaurant of some sort. They'd been up in the tower all afternoon.

"Can we just have something small for now? I think that waffle killed me off," Harley commented as Tom took her inside his favourite little cafe that doubled as a restaurant.

"Whatever you want, darling," Tom said simply, smiling at her. Harley smiled, leaning up to kiss his cheek. "What do you want?"

"Just a coffee and a sandwich or something would do me just fine," Harley said. Tom smiled.

"I know exactly what to get you then. Go and find a table, love. I'll be right with you," he said. Harley smiled, nodding and going to find the nearest unoccupied table.

Not long after she sat down and started gazing out of the window, Tom joined her, setting a small silver tray down on the table. Harley smiled at him as he pushed her stuff towards her.

"Fresh ham and cheese salad sandwich, and a hot cup of the best coffee in the whole of Paris. Well, in my opinion, anyway," he chuckled, taking a sip of his own. Harley grinned and took a bite of the sandwich first, humming happily at the taste.

"This is so good," she murmured through the mouthful. Tom chuckled, nodding as he took a bite of his own sandwich.

"Try the coffee. I promise, it will be worth it," he said. Harley huffed, placing her sandwich down on the plate again then picking up the tall cup. She blew lightly over the top to cool it a little, then took a sip. Her eyes widened slightly as the taste rolled over her taste buds, making her immediately take another long sip. Tom grinned at her reaction, laughing softly at her.

"This is freaking amazing," Harley said.

"Told you," Tom said smugly. Harley just rolled her eyes, flipping him the bird and carrying on with eating and drinking.

The two made small talk the entire time, then once they were done, Harley took the tray back to the front, not wanting to leave it for someone to clean up. She'd made Tom teach her how to thank someone in French, and he'd also translated the replies for her, leaving a joyful smile on her face and a slight skip in her step as the two made their way back to the ship for the night.


	13. XIII

Everything that had to be done that day was done and sorted by the time Harley and Tom got back to the ship, and the generator used for the electrical purposes was charging up for when they left.

The following day went pretty much the same way. Tom showed Harley around the rest of the city she hadn't seen yet, and took her to his favourite restaurants for breakfast and lunch. They decided to join the others on the ship for dinner that evening. Harley wanted to spend time with her friends and tell them about her experience in Paris. She even told them the small bits of French she'd picked up from Tom.

When Harley was getting ready for bed that night, she'd pretty much forgotten she'd wanted to talk to Tom in the first place. That is, until she caught her foot on the loose floor board again, making her cuss quietly then sigh almost sadly as she looked down at it. She crouched down and pulled it all out, looking at the outfits one by one. She really liked them, and she'd wear them if she could, but knowing they used to be someone else's put her off.

She grabbed a couple of the outfits and bundled them up neatly in her arms, then went to find Tom. She found the man in question on the main deck talking to Zach, Chris, Ray and Dan. Everyone else had found things to keep themselves occupied until they were ready to head to bed for the night.

"Tom, can I talk to you please?" Harley asked. The Captain frowned at the tone of her voice and the bundle of fabric in her arms.

"Of course," he said, excusing himself from the group and letting Harley into his office. "What's wrong?"

"When did you decide lying to me would be a good idea?" she asked, cutting straight to the point as she placed the clothes down on his desk. Tom swallowed thickly. Harley knew his friends were watching them through the small window, and Zach was by the door. She could see them in the corner of her eyes, but she ignored them. She was too fussed with talking to Tom.

"Harley, I can explain," Tom said. Harley's mouth fell open slightly.

"So you admit you're a liar?" Harley questioned, feeling a pain in her chest when he nodded. "How could you? I came on this trip with you for an adventure and some fun. I didn't come here to be fucking lied too. I know this isn't one of those things I should be at all fucking worried about, and I'm not. It's the fact you _lied_ about it. I'm not the first girl on here at all, am I?"

"No, you're not," Tom confessed quietly.

"How many others have there been?" Harley asked angrily.

"Only one. Harley, she was the only one, I swear," Tom said. Harley huffed, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Who was she?" Harley asked.

"Her name was Lucy," Tom replied.

"Why isn't she here anymore? Was her adventure just the three weeks I'm getting too? Have you seen her since?" Harley questioned, hearing people stepping into the room. She didn't care, though.

"She's... um... she's missing," Tom said, glancing at his friends quickly. Chris was shaking his head in disapproval. Another lie he had to try and keep up.

"What do you mean missing? How the fuck could you lose someone in the middle of the ocean?" Harley spat.

"She went missing while we were docked up in Italy, actually," Zach said, cutting Tom's lie off. Tom frowned as Harley spun to face Zach.

"You knew too?" she asked in disbelief. Zach nodded and so did the others.

"She wasn't Tom's friend. Well, she was, but I brought her on board. She was my girlfriend. You're the first girl Tom has ever had on board. Lucy was my responsibility and I fucked up. I took my eyes off her for a second too long. I've always felt I know where she ended up, but the bigger part of me just wants to believe she went home and she's safe," Zach said, lying through his teeth.

"Why did you guys lie to me?" Harley asked, truly hurt by the revelation.

"Tom was scared you'd say no to coming with him if you knew that we'd lost a girl before, and he really wanted you to come with us. He was always talking about you when he spoke to us the week he'd met you. He thinks the world of you," Chris said. Harley frowned more and looked at Tom as he nodded in agreement. Harley sighed, rubbing her hands over her face.

"Is there anything else you want to tell me?" she asked. Tom frantically shook his head to the guys when she wasn't looking at him, and as much as they wanted to tell her, they knew Tom wouldn't be happy if they did before he was ready, so they all said no.

With a sigh, Harley nodded. "Alright. Can someone fix that floorboard in my room when you get chance please? I keep catching my foot on it."

"I'll do it first thing in the morning," Ray promised. Harley nodded, leaving the clothes on Tom's desk.

"Goodnight," she said, making her way out of the room. She was too upset to stick around much longer.

Once she was gone, Chris, Ray, Dan and Zach all looked at Tom, who had lowered himself into his chair and placed his head in his hands.

"I'm such an idiot," he muttered.

"I could've told you that myself, my friend," Zach said quietly.

"Don't you think now would be a good time to tell her the truth before she finds out the hard way?" Chris questioned.

"I can't, Chris, don't you get that?" Tom asked, clearly distressed by the situation. "If she reacted like this to the lie about Lucy, how the hell is she going to react to that lie? She'll fucking hate me. She'll hate all of us. She'll want to leave and never see us again!"

"How do you know that?" Dan asked. "She seems very fond of you."

"He has a point," Ray said. "If she wasn't fond of you, she wouldn't have been this upset over a silly little white lie. I think she just wants to know she's the only important girl in your life."

"None of you are helping," Tom grumbled, leaning back in his chair and sighing. "What do we do about the new lie? We know damn well where Lucy went. She went with _them_ and changed her damn name!"

"That was your fault, Cap. I was just trying to keep it up," Zach said. "But she'll find out the hard way sooner or later. We got wind earlier that they're out on the waters looking for you again."

"Just what I bloody need," Tom muttered angrily, running a hand through his short hair. "I'll figure something out. Until then, no one is to say a fucking word to her. You keep this between us, or it'll be the last secret you ever get the chance to keep. Understand?"

"Understood," the four agreed before saying their goodnights and heading out to give Tom some peace, space and time to think.


	14. XIV

The following morning, Tom was up long before everyone else even stirred, and he was pacing his office deep in thought. He knew he had to tell Harley everything, but he also knew she'd hate him for having lied about it all. Especially since he'd told her the night before there were no more secrets.

After a few hours of pacing, Tom made his way up onto the deck to get a bit of morning air in the French docks before they set sail again for their next destination, which was still undecided. As he leaned against the side gazing out towards the ocean, footsteps were heard followed by the voice that always did unexplainable things to him.

"Tom?"

"Morning, Harley. How did you sleep?" he asked, giving her a small smile as she approached him.

"Fine, thank you," she said, playing with the ends of her hair. "I.. Tom, I.."

"What's the matter?" Tom asked, frowning.

"I wanted to apologise, Tom," Harley said quietly. "I shouldn't have over-reacted like that last night. It was just a pile of clothes and an old girlfriend. I shouldn't have taken it to heart like that."

"No, no, don't be daft," Tom said, pulling her into a gentle hug. "I'm the one that should be sorry. I should've told you from the beginning. I shouldn't have kept it a secret and neither should the others."

"So.. we forgive each other?" Harley asked.

"Yes. Yes, we do," Tom said, smiling thankfully and hugging her close to him.

The guilt was eating him alive. He'd just made up with her, and now he had to hurt her again so there'd be no more secrets between them, so maybe they'd have a chance of working out.

"Hey, Tom?"

"Yes?"

"Zach said yesterday he feels he knows where Lucy went, but doesn't want to think about it. What did he mean?" she asked. Tom sighed softly, leaning against the side of the boat with her. He saw Chris appear in the doorway to the cabins. They shared a look, and Chris nodded to him, so Tom started to talk.

"There's another dangerous crew that sail the seas," Tom began, immediately catching Harley's curiosity. "Their Captain is called Nick Fury, and they're more known for hunting those who shouldn't be allowed to roam free, such as Captain Laufeyson, who you saw in my cabin the other day. Well, the photo of him anyway. And while it seems like they're doing good by ridding the seas of dangerous people, they're also a danger themselves. They lie, steal, cheat and kill. They leave a trail of havoc wherever they go, especially if they're looking for someone."

"They've been searching for Loki for years now, leaving many a trail of mess in their dust," Chris said as he approached the two. "But so far, they've not succeeded in finding him."

"So what did Lucy have to do with them?" Harley asked.

"Captain Fury believed that we knew something of Loki's whereabouts," Tom said. "But because we knew nothing and denied it, while Lucy was out with Zach, he believes they took her as a sort of bribe. If we talk, we get her back. That sort of thing. But we've not seen nor heard from them since."

"Wow. I really hope she didn't end up with them. That'd be awful," Harley said, frowning.

"It would be, yes. You'd have loved her," Chris said sadly, running his fingers through his hair. Harley turned away from them to look out towards the ocean, giving Tom the chance to share a look with Chris.

"I can't do this," he mouthed to him.

"You have to mate," Chris said, just loud enough for Tom to hear. "You can't lie to her anymore. Not about this. She knows about them now. She needs to know about us too."

"Chris.." Chris shook his head, and Tom sighed, nodding understandingly. He was scared, but he had to do it.

"Harley, may I speak with you a moment please? Alone?" Tom asked. Harley looked at him, then nodded.

"Of course," she said, letting him grab her hand and pull her towards his cabin. The whole time, he was trying to decide how to word his love for her, and also how to word that he'd been lying about who he truly is the whole time he's known her.

As soon as they were in his office, Tom started to pull on his waist coat and the long black and green jacket that had been hung on a hook on the wall.

"Tom?" Harley questioned.

"I... Harley, I know we just made up, and you won't ever understand how much guilt I feel for having to do this," Tom began, making Harley frown.

"What are you talking about?" she asked.

"I... me and the guys, we're... we're not who you think we are," he began, carefully wording his sentences to try and make the shock as little as possible. He'd confessed so much already, so this would more than likely frighten her above all else. "I'm rather a professional illusionist, so I'm able to hide what I don't want others to see."

"Tom, you're not making sense," Harley said, utterly lost. Tom sighed, clenching his fists at his sides. There was no going back now.

"Just watch. And please, I beg of you, don't hate me, and don't be afraid of me," he said, starting to pull away his illusion. "I won't ever hurt you or let you get hurt, I swear."

"Tom, I don't understand," Harley almost whispered. She frowned in utter confusion as she watched Tom's hair lengthen and darken until it was black. His stubble was gone, leaving his face completely smooth and shaven. His eyes changed shades, becoming a striking shade of Emerald green, and his skin became much paler than usual. The black of his clothing was now a charcoal black, and everything looked so much more royal looking. Harley stared for a minute, trying to remember where she'd seen him before, and when it struck her, her eyes widened.

"Harley?" His voice sounded so gentle and scared, but she knew exactly who he was, and when she looked at the wanted poster pinned to the wall, it was confirmed.

"Y-You..." she said, starting to tremble. "You're him..."

"Harley, please," he said quickly, stepping towards her. She quickly stepped back.

"Get away from me," she said, feeling tears starting to roll down her cheeks. "Get the fuck away from me."

"Harley, please just let me explain!"

"No! There's nothing you can explain that will change the fact that you've lied to me! Again! About the biggest fucking thing you could ever lie to me about!" Harley ranted, her voice raising. There was a soft knock at the door, and Zach appeared with Chris right behind him.

"Is everything o- shit." Zach's eyes were slightly wide, and Chris was biting his lip. "You... you told her."

"I had too. I can't lie to her anymore."

"Does this mean we need to tell her too, Cap?" Chris asked.

"Yes it fucking does!" Harley snapped. "If you lot are hiding any more fucking secrets, I want to know right now."

"I'll find Ray and Dan," Zach said, quickly excusing himself. Chris stepped into the room, leaving the door open a crack.

"Let's do this, Loki," he said softly. The raven haired Captain sighed softly as he pulled his second illusion away. Chris's hair lengthened ever so slightly and the blonde darkened, his stubble grew out some more and darkened in colour too. His casual looking clothes started to change too. He was wearing a white shirt, brown pants, brown boots and a long red coat with silver stitching.

"Who are you?" Harley asked, stepping away from him.

"My name is Thor Odinson," he confessed. "I'm Loki's brother."

"Oh God," Harley muttered, making her way out of the room.

"Harley wait!" Thor called.

"Hey! Slow down there, kiddo. Where's the fire?" Ray asked, gently grabbing hold of Harley's arm as she passed them.

"Don't fucking touch me!" she snapped, yanking herself away from him and looking at them. "Well? Who are you guys, really? Because after the notorious Captain Loki Laufeyson decided to reveal himself, soon followed by Thor, I'm pretty fucking convinced you're not who you say you are. And you all told me last night there was nothing left to hide!"

"Harley, just let us explain and you'll understand why we had to lie to you!" Thor almost begged. Harley growled at him, and he backed off while Loki made work of getting rid of the rest of his illusions as tears started to build in his eyes.

Zach's hair lengthened ever so slightly and lightened until it was a shade of blonde lighter than Thor's. His facial hair lightened and became more well-trimmed, he became a little more muscled and his face became a little thinner. His clothes became a cream coloured shirt, a dark-mint green coloured leather coat that trailed down just below his ass, a pair of dark brown pants that were almost black and a pair of black boots.

Ray's hair lengthened to just below his shoulders and lightened until it was a gingery-brown colour. He had facial hair of the same colour. He now wore a dark red shirt, black pants and black flat shoes. His body build also changed to his beer belly became rather large and some of his muscle became hidden by the extra fat.

Dan's hair lengthened back, and there was a silver tie holding it all out of his face. He was dressed all in black and had a silver chain hanging from his neck.

"Oh my God," Harley choked out through her tears. She'd been lied to the whole time she'd been here.

"This is..." Loki trailed off for a minute, stopping his voice from cracking as he pointed to each man. "Fandral, Volstagg, and Hogun. They're our best friends and they've been with us since the very beginning."

"Unbelievable," Harley said, shaking her head as she laughed dryly. "Anyone else I should know about?"

"No, no, none at all," Volstagg said, shaking his head. "All the other men you've made friends with are people we met on our travels that wanted to come with us."

"I can't fucking believe this," Harley said, running her hands through her hair.

"Don't be mad at any of them, Harley, it's all my fault," Loki said, stepping towards her. "They've been telling me since the beginning that I can't ever hide anything like this from people I ask to come with us, but I was scared of what you'd say so I did, and I regret every second of having to lie to you."

"Then why bother?" Harley asked.

"We have to stay hidden," Fandral said. "If Fury knew it was really us, he'd have us locked up in a heartbeat. That's why we took on disguises and lived normal lives outside of these ones. It's not something we like having to do, but it's how we survive. It's why Loki hasn't been found yet."

"You guys are un-fucking-believable, you know that right?" Harley muttered, letting her anger cloud her better judgement as she made quick work of getting off the ship.

"Harley, wait!" Loki called as he started to switch back to their disguises.

"No wait!" Hogun said as he became Dan again. "I will go after her. She is very upset with you. She will not listen."

"Yeah, you're right," Loki said as he quickly became Tom again. "Please just make sure she doesn't get hurt and keep your eyes out, too. I don't want her getting mixed up with the wrong people."

"I will look after her, I promise," Dan said, giving Tom a small smile then slipping away to go after the blonde and brown haired girl.


	15. XV

By the time Harley stopped to breathe, tears were freely streaming down her face. She was crying properly now, and she let herself fall against a tree then slide down it so she was sat against it. She pulled her knees up to her chest and hid her face between them, letting herself release all the emotions she was now feeling.

Harley felt scared, lonely, confused, hurt, angry, lost and relieved all at the same time. Why she felt relieved, she'd never know, but she wanted all the bad emotions to go away.

"Chin up, Princess," a voice said above her, making her look up. "I'd hate to have to watch a pretty girl cry."

"Go away," Harley sniffled.

"Tony," a woman scolded, slapping his arm before kneeling down beside Harley and gently touching her face, brushing her tears away. "Ignore him. He's about as sensitive as a pin."

"All men tend to be," Harley said, giving a gentle chuckle. "I'm sorry, I've probably just disturbed your good day."

"Nah, not at all. I'm on food rounds with the most boring fucker on the planet," the woman chuckled softly, making the man known as Tony scoff as he joined them on the floor, sitting cross-legged the other side of Harley. "My name's Natasha. Who're you?"

"I'm Harley," she answered quietly, brushing her tears away with her palm.

"Pleasure to meet you," Natasha said, giving her a friendly smile. "Now, are you going to tell me what's got you so damn upset? We women don't ever break down like this unless it's something serious."

Harley gave another soft laugh, then leant back against the tree. Natasha stayed where she was, patiently waiting for her to talk.

"Just... just boy troubles. It's nothing, really," Harley said.

"Of course it's something if my gender's reputation is on the line!" Tony exclaimed, making Harley giggle softly. "There ya go! That's better!"

"It's just... this guy that I really, really like," Harley began softly. "He's lied to me about a few things, and I'm starting to question whether he's even worth my time."

"Well you wanna know what I think?" Natasha said softly, taking Harley's hand in hers and giving it a gentle squeeze. "I think that if a guy is going to lie to you, then he's not even worth the time of day. But on the other hand, if you really do feel something for this guy; if you love him even, then talk to him. You never know. You might come to find that he lied about whatever it is to protect you from something that might not even be a threat to someone like you."

"You think so?" Harley asked softly, brushing away more tears and sniffling, thanking Tony quietly when he handed her a tissue.

"I know so, sweetie," Natasha assured her, giving her hand another squeeze. She and Tony got up, and Tony offered a hand to her. When Harley took it, they both pulled her to her feet and Natasha gave her a gentle, friendly hug. "Now, you go get some coffee and cheer yourself up, and then you go and talk to this guy of yours. I can tell just by how upset you are that you really feel something for him, and honestly, if he can justify what he's done, then he really does deserve a chance to make up for what he's done."

"Thanks Natasha," Harley said, giving her a smile.

"You're welcome," she said. Once they'd shared goodbyes, Natasha and Tony went on their way, and Harley made her way back in the direction she came from.

She reached the half way point which was the cafe Tom took her to for coffee two days before, and she saw Dan making his way towards her. She gave him a small, sheepish smile as he came to a stop, but he returned it with a warm, relieved smile and hugged her close.

"I was worried about you," he admitted as he pulled back. "Are you okay?"

"I think I will be," Harley admitted. "I'm sorry I ran and worried you. I was just scared, y'know? He told me that he's a dangerous man, and it turned out to be him all along."

"It is a lot to take in, but you will be okay," Dan promised. "May we talk over coffee? My treat to make up for being a part of this lie."

"Alright," Harley said, smiling as Dan lead her into the cafe. "Wait, what do I call you all now?"

"You call us as you met us unless we are alone in the middle of the ocean," Dan said. Harley nodded understandingly.

Once the two were sat at a table with a cup of coffee each, Dan started to explain everything in a hushed tone to Harley, hoping she'd understand and come back with him.

"We could not risk our identities being known," he said. "Tom had told you about Loki before he told you the secret, so he kept the lie because he was scared that you'd be frightened of him and want to leave. He was also scared that you would be mad at him for lying for so long. And you are mad, but we can understand that. I would be too if I had been lied to by a friend I trust."

"I feel so stupid," Harley admitted, running her finger around the rim of her coffee cup. "I mean, if he was going to hurt me in any way, wouldn't he have done it regardless of whether or not I knew about the disguise? But he hasn't. He's been so kind and gentle and I've been awful."

"He probably deserves it," Dan chuckled. "I personally think you should slap him then forgive him."

"You think so?" Harley giggled. Dan nodded as he smiled at her. "Oh, Dan. I don't know if I have the guts to face him again."

"I will tell you another secret that only Zach, Chris, Ray and I know," he said, leaning over to her a little more. Harley raised an eyebrow and leant forward a little too. "Tom very much likes you. We think he may love you. That is another reason he was so scared to tell you. He did not want to lose you."

"Really?" Harley asked quietly. Dan nodded. "I like him too... in fact, I think I love him."

"Then you should tell him. Make him feel better," Dan advised. Harley finished off her coffee then gave Dan a small smile, nodding.

"Yeah, you're right. The fact is, he's told me now. There's no more secrets, and now I know how I can protect him completely," she said.

"That is the girl we love," Dan said happily. Harley giggled as the two got up and made their way out to head back to the ship. Harley had a lot of apologies to make, and then she had a kiss to win.


	16. XVI

When Harley and Dan boarded the ship again, everyone was getting ready to head off. Tom was up by the wheel looking rather distressed while everyone fussed around packing things up.

"Harley! Oh thank God!"

Harley yelped when she was swept up into someone's arms, and smiled, laughing softly when Zach placed her down and kissed her forehead.

"Don't you ever worry us like that again young lady!" Ray scolded as he hugged her.

"I'm sorry. I really am," Harley said shamefully.

"No, Harley. It's us that are sorry," Chris said, hugging her tightly. "Tom regrets ever having to keep that secret from you."

"I know. Dan told me everything," Harley said, kissing Chris's cheek. "Will you be okay handling things for a minute? I want to talk to him."

"Sure, of course," Chris said, nodding. Harley gave him a smile then wandered in the direction of the cabins, looking up to the Captain.

"Captain, can I have a word?" she called up to him. Tom looked down, giving her a small smile and a nod as he came down to her. She went into his office and he quickly followed.

"Harley?"

"I hate you," she said simply, slapping him hard. He stared wide-eyed at her. As he opened his mouth to speak, she leant up on her toes and pressed her lips to his as her palms rest on the sides of his face. They parted as his hands came to rest on her waist.

"Wha-"

"I hate you for lying to me like that. I despise liars far more than anything in the world," she said quietly, staying close to him. "But you, Tom Hiddleston... Loki Laufeyson... whoever the fuck you are. I love you. I didn't realise it before, but Dan talked to me and he told me everything. When he was talking to me, and explaining everything as best he could, he made me realise that I care far too much for you for it to just be a friendship. I want more. I want you, Tom. Both sides of you. I want the loving, happy-go-lucky theatre actor I met in work, and I want the dark, dangerous pirate you hid from me from the start."

Without a word, Tom's lips met Harley's again. Her arms wrapped around his neck as he lifted her up ever so slightly so she was on the tips of her toes. When they parted for air, Tom was grinning.

"I never, ever thought I'd hear you say those words to me," he said, kissing her again then releasing her to hold her hands.

"Well I've said them, and I meant them, and I'll repeat them every day if I have too," Harley promised. Tom smiled, kissing her again. Wolf whistles from outside the window could be heard, along with chants of 'get some', making Harley and Tom laugh as they looked out at their friends.

"The Captain has a girlfriend at last!" Ray announced loudly as the two wandered out of the cabin onto the deck. Cheers and clapping came from all around, making Harley giggle as she settled against his side and his arm wrapped around her shoulders.

"Yes, and you lot need to mind your business and get back to work," Tom said. "I want to be out of here and heading out towards Hamburg, Germany before lunch."

"On it," Chris chuckled, heading away to do what he had to do.

"I'm gonna change into something more comfortable now. This is just the first thing I threw on this morning," Harley said, motioning to what she was wearing.

"Alright," Tom said, leaning down to kiss her lovingly. "I'll see you in a bit."

"You will," Harley said, smiling happily as she made her way back to her room, hoping she'd left at least one dress under the floorboards.

Once she was in the room, she pulled everything from under the board, finding it sat properly now, making her roll her eyes. She picked through the clothes, taking a liking to the black leather boots that would stretch up to roughly her mid calf. She put them aside along with a green dress and a white shirt.

Harley silently apologised to Lucy, wherever she was, and unattached the skirt of the dress from the bodice, then tore the bottom half of the dress off so she was just left with a skirt that fell to her mid-thighs. She grabbed a pair of ripped up tights from her bag and pulled them on along with the skirt, then smirked at herself in the small but long mirror she had. She stumbled a bit when the ship started to move, but it didn't faze her too much.

She pulled the white shirt on next, leaving the lacing at the top open so it'd be more baggy and the sleeves would fall off her shoulders. Once the shirt was on her, she pulled a black and green corset from her bag and pulled it on, shifting it into place and tightening it up, giving her a little more of a figure. The top of it pushed her breasts up a little, making them look bigger. Once she was satisfied, she slipped her feet into the boots, thanking anyone that was listening that they fit alright.

Once dressed, she rimmed her eyes with black and smudged it to look smoky, then pulled out her small wooden box of jewellery. She picked the black and gold feathered earrings she'd packed and pulled one off, pushing it into her right ear. Then she grabbed a small, thin gold hoop and hooked it into her left ear and smirked at herself as she pulled her hair away from the right side and clipped it back.

Harley spent a few more minutes in her room, admiring herself in the mirror. When she was done, she smirked to herself and made her way out to the deck. She quickly peeked into Tom's office before she went out to see the others, finding his hat sat on his desk. It was the only hat he had, but it was different to the one he usually wore, and then she remembered the illusion. The hat was now a little bigger, charcoal black in colour, the white feather was a little bigger with a slightly smaller green one right beside it and there was gold stitching around the rim. Harley hummed happily to herself as she placed it on her head, then straightened herself up and made her way onto the deck.

At the sound of heels clicking on the wooden floor, men started to turn from what they were doing, and when they spotted Harley, wolf whistles and cat calls could be heard. Zach whistled as his eyes roamed Harley's figure.

"Look at you, Captain Quinn!" Chris exclaimed, chuckling. "You and the Captain sorting yourselves out sure did strike a change in you."

"If I'm going to be travelling around as the Captain's girlfriend, I suppose I have to look the part, don't I?" Harley mused, smirking.

"Hey, guys, has anyone seen my-" Harley turned around, seeing Loki stood looking at her. They were far enough away from land now for anyone to see him properly, and now she knew, he was able to walk around freely without his illusions. "Hat."

"I'm sorry, were you looking for this?" Harley mused, cocking her head to the side. Loki simply stared, his emerald eyes slowly analysing every inch of his new lover. She looked absolutely ravishing.

"Harley.. wow," he muttered, slowly moving towards her. She smirked as he closed in on her. When he was close enough, his hands were on her waist and her chest was pressed against his. "I'm impressed. It seems I've claimed my mark on you without even trying."

"It seems so, yes," Harley mused, placing his hat on his head in a way that cast a dark shadow over his eyes, sending a shiver down her spine as she leant up and connected their lips in a kiss she could never grow tired of.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I genuinely have no idea where the hell I'm going with this. It's just happening. *shrug*  
> But I thank all those who're actually reading this from the bottom of my heart. <3


	17. XVII

After one of the biggest things to happen in the last few years amongst the crew had happened, night quickly fell. The ocean was calm and the sailing was smooth. Harley had been helping out wherever she could around the ship all day between stealing kisses and flirty glances with Loki, who'd pulled away all illusions and planned to keep them away until they were on land again.

It was taking some getting used to, but Harley was glad Loki didn't have to disguise himself as Tom anymore and lie to her like he had. His friends, too. She was so fond of them all and she wanted them to know that they could always trust her with anything and everything, and in return she'd trust them too.

The last of the errands were being sorted by Mark and Jason, with the help of Volstagg and Thor. Hogun had retired for the night, and Fandral had spent a little time talking to Loki while things calmed down, apologising over and over for upsetting him with his constant flirting with Harley. Loki simply waved it aside and forgave him, simply stating that he shouldn't have been so upset about it and he valued their friendship too much to hold a grudge. Harley was pleased with this news.

It was the following day that Harley and Loki both realised that due to all the drama that had occurred between everyone, they'd both neglected the work they'd planned to do and get finished. So between helping the crew and flirting, both worked hard on their work. Whenever they docked, someone would be left behind with Harley to keep her company and keep an eye on her while she worked, then when they were all back, she'd help Loki with the scripts he needed to learn for when he had to be Tom. By the time they had to return to England to live their normal lives for a while longer, they'd successfully finished all the work that they'd taken with them.

Harley kept seeing Loki while they were living back in England, though he was Tom there. She'd confessed to her co-worker and best friend that they were dating, and she'd been overjoyed for her. Harley had also agreed to go back out to sea with Loki and his crew once she'd finished her final year in University and received her results.

It was mid-August that same year that Harley was presented with a diploma in creative writing, English literature and art, and Tom had been there with her family and friends, cheering her on and celebrating with her long into the night.

Tom's performances had all gone wonderfully, and Harley had been there for the opening night of every single one of them, including the ones the night before the most important exams of her life. And true to what he'd offered back on the ship heading to Paris, Loki had introduced Harley to the company he worked for as Tom, managing to get her a place with them to work with them as and when she was able too. Harley couldn't have been happier with that.

After taking leave from work at the beginning of September, Harley packed her bag again and went back out to sea with Loki, Thor and the others. All the men were overjoyed to have her on board again without a set time limit holding them back from adventuring further than Europe.

"Where is it we're heading this time, Captain?" Fandral asked as he joined them up on the main deck after putting away his bag.

"How about Greece?" Hogun suggested.

"Egypt maybe?" Volstagg chimed in.

"Y'know where I wanna see?" Harley mused, glancing between her four friends and her lover. "I wanna see the whole world, starting with America!"

"Captain, do we take the Lady's wants and set sail for the States?" Thor asked.

"Aye, we do whatever my lover wants to do," Loki said, smiling. Harley rolled her eyes and grinned at him.

"You're smitten, my friend," Fandral chuckled, patting Loki's shoulder before heading across the deck to help get things going.

"What do you want to do, love?" Loki asked, wrapping his arm around Harley's waist, pulling her into his side so he could steal a kiss from her painted red lips.

"I want to ditch my illusion for a start," Harley commented. "We're not on land anymore and haven't been for, what, half an hour now? I want to look sexy again!"

"You're sexy anyway," Loki chuckled, pulling away his Tom illusion, then happily pulling Harley's old look away.

Harley had changed her hair up a lot while they'd been in England. She'd let it grow out enough for her to braid, and she'd had short layers put into it so she could still have hair hanging around when she pulled her braids up into a bun. She was also no longer a brunette, rather, she'd died it black, bleached a few parts and died them green instead. To those who'd only seen her once or twice, she'd be unrecognisable now, and that's what was needed to start a new life with her Pirate lover.

"And now onto serious matters," Loki chuckled.

"We could start that chunk of tree that we call a script, but we have until May for that, so there's plenty of time, and we get shit done pretty quickly," Harley said. "I know! Teach me to be a pirate!"

"You seem very hyper, darling, are you okay?" Loki laughed, leading his lover into his office.

"Fandral gave me some damn good coffee he has shipped in regularly from Poland. It's full of caffeine," she giggled, sitting herself on Loki's desk. The Captain rolled his eyes in amusement, shaking his head as he laughed softly.

"I'll need to tell him to not give you Polish coffee anymore," Loki commented.

"Killjoy," Harley pouted. Loki just smirked, then started explaining everything about their lives, what they do and why. And, he also explained what her role would be now she was with them for good.

"Being my lover, you'll not have half the work any normal female crew member would have, though it's rare to even have females on board anyway. You'll do a lot of what I do, but you'll just do it less. And then the times you come ashore with us, you'll serve as a very, very tempting distraction while we get our work done. If things go too far, you get yourself out of whatever situation it is. I'm not standing by and watching you get hurt in any way," he explained. Harley nodded. "Promise me you'll always save yourself if things get too bad, Harley."

"I promise, Loki," she assured the pirate. He smiled thankfully, leaning down to kiss her lovingly. He groaned softly when her fingers of one hand tangled up in and tugged lightly at the hair at the base of his neck while her other hand kept her upright on the desk. Both his hands were braced either side of her hips on the edge of the desk, making sure she couldn't get away without a struggle, and holding himself up. Her kisses were so hypnotising. He'd never, ever get tired of them, and he was sure of that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to those who are sticking with this despite it being ever so slightly pointless and random and off the top of my head as I go along and stuff.  
> Oh God, I haven't used the word 'Random' in so long. What is this. o-o
> 
> But yeah. Thank you all, I hope you enjoy the update, and I shall see you hovering around in my other stories <3


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